Party Time!
by Bligy
Summary: A response to a challenge on Black White and Read GG archive issued by Amie: At Lane's first gig when Jess and Rory are in the parents bedroom together. Rory does not say no. Thanks to popular demand, the story will be expanded. Complete for the moment.
1. Chapter 1

Rory opened the door upstairs hesitantly. She knew that they weren't supposed to be up there, but no one seemed to know where Jess was. This was the last place in the house that she hadn't checked. Upon opening the door, she noted that said boyfriend was curled up in a chair at the edge of the room.

"There you are," she greeted softly, walking into the room, but staying in the doorframe.

"Hey," he returned quickly, glancing away and then back again.

"I've been looking all over for you," she continued.

It didn't take much to notice that he was unhappy, why, however, was a mystery. Frowning to herself, she closed the door behind her as he talked.

"Just got tired of everything down there," he told her, slouching on the comfy chair.

"Are we allowed to be up here? I mean, Kyle was kind of discouraging it," she questioned after closing the door.

Jess rose to his feet when she turned around, and she walked over to meet him. The lighting was dark and the party's noise was heavily muted by the door. A bit nervously, she made her way over to him.

"When you have a party, you get what you get," he stated, as though this was common knowledge to the party goers of the world.

"Yeah, I guess," Rory agreed as she moved closer. Reaching out one of her hands to his face, she smiled as he kissed her palm. "Sad boy, what's wrong? You were looking forward to this party, what happened?

"Nothing," Jess brushed off, as he normally did, but Rory didn't believe him. He'd been sulking all night, there was something wrong.

"Something did," she disagreed softly, "C'mon, tell me."

Instead of answering, he kissed her softly. It was obviously an attempt to trick her out of talking, but she wasn't having anything of it. For the past few days, he'd been distant and upset over something.

"You're not tired of me, are you?" she pressed, and was greeted by another, more passionate, kiss. As they broke apart, she smiled at him. "That's a pretty good answer."

Instead of smiling at her little joke, which she thought he would, he looked more upset and pulled her closer. There was a moment when his thoughts were blatantly apparent on his face, something that didn't happen very often, and she saw the sadness that was blanketing him. Wanting to make the sadness go away, she allowed him to kiss her and stopped talking.

His hands were warm on her back, holding her to him, and she wrapped hers around the back of his neck. The kiss heated up and he moved them backward, to the bed. A flutter of anticipation screamed through her body, and she thought about what was happening. One of her hands abandoned its place on his head to feel the mattress beneath her as she sat.

He moved them so that he was on top of her on the bed, never stopping their kissing. Breathing became an issue as his hands lowered on her body, and she attempted to funnel through what was reality and what she'd dreamt the past few days. Sure, this wasn't exactly the romantic way that she'd imagined losing her virginity, but this was Jess. It wasn't as though he was going to be traditional.

"Jess, wait," she asked, wanting to talk to him about it, but he ignored her.

At first she was going to object again, remembering Dean on the stairs and the party below them. Lane was there and she was going on in a few minutes. She wouldn't be able to watch them, but then his hand wandered beneath the seam line on her pants and the comment was chased from her lips.

"Jess," she whispered, but this time it was in encouragement. He pulled back for a second, perhaps to ask her permission, or maybe just to make sure that he wasn't going to be shoved off.

Rory nodded slightly, and he went back to working the belt off her pants. Her hands soon found their way beneath his shirt, tugging it slightly and allowing her contact with his bare back. Despite all their make-out sessions previously, they'd never gotten this far. His skin was like fire against her hands, and all she could think about was that she wanted to see it, to feel more of it.

His shirt was soon over his head, breaking their kisses momentarily. Her jeans were the next thing to go, and she helped him kick them off the bed. His hands then sought out her shirt, crawling beneath them carefully. Rory lifted herself off the bed for a moment to get her jacket off and flung it randomly into the room.

As though this were the flame that lit the fire that was blazing between them, he took the moment to tear the shirt off her body. Rory hesitated for a second, not quite sure what she was supposed to think of, being naked in front of someone. Jess hesitated with her, and they looked at each other for a moment before returning to their kissing. It didn't take that long for her to get his pants off, the belt having been the trick part, but he'd helped her.

There were now only three pieces of clothing involved in the situation. It was difficult to tell which would go first, but with the way his hands crawled up her back, she had a decent idea. Her own hands crept down to his boxers and she ran her hand along the elastic top hesitantly, not wanting to go beneath them yet. Before she had made her decision, he'd managed to unclasp her bra and was attempting to get it off her shoulders. She helped him, arching her back a little into him. Once he'd taken the straps off her shoulders, she flicked it off into the room. This left their top halves naked and touching, causing the fire that had previously only been on his back to extend throughout her entire body.

Feelings that she'd only felt in dreams caught up to her and made her breathing speed at least five times its normal rate. Finally, they were left with only two scraps of cloth separating them, and the choice of which would go first was only based on who could get it off quickest. Rory squirmed as his hands trailed down her stomach and to her underwear. Hers mirrored his on their way down to his boxers. She forgot to breathe for a second as his fingers pressed beneath the scrap of cloth.

"Jess," she gasped, and her hands froze.

He said nothing, she didn't really expect him to, but she could feel the tension that was screaming through all his muscles. Her hands abandoned their place on his body and reached down to her own, helping him by taking off her last piece of clothing. Their kissing increased as she took the last step and slid his boxers over his hips. It was a bit of a task, all things considered, but it was accomplished after a few seconds.

Jess pulled back once more to watch her face as he slowly pressed himself against her. Another thread of panic screamed through her body, and she almost made him stop, but then she saw his eyes and nodded. The process of him sliding into her seemed to take ages, but neither looked away. When he hit her barrier, they both gasped. She arched slightly and he thrust through it. Pain like she hadn't felt in a very long time struck her, and she had to bite his shoulder not to cry out. He ran his hands through her hair comfortingly as she worked through the pain.

After a minute, the pain gave way to something else, something that she hadn't felt before in her entire existence. Shaking slightly, she kissed him and he started moving. Her hands seemed to be frozen on his back and she had a difficult time coordinating her kissing with his movements. On one particularly well-aimed thrust by Jess, she lost all ability to think and her head lashed to the side. For a second, she could almost swear that she passed out. Gently, his hand went to the side of her face and tilted it back so he could kiss her.

She returned the kiss and felt her body starting to move with his. It was a totally different experience, and she could barely believe the feelings that were coursing through her. Her hands ran up and down his back before settling in his hair, pulling him closer to her. Was this what it meant to be truly close to someone? If so, she never wanted to be apart from him again. The thought brought another thought into the matter, she loved him. Her body jerked a little bit as the pleasure became too much for her. She bit into her lip instead of crying out as she felt the tension that had been building release. Despite this, he kept moving, and the feeling rebuilt again, quicker this time. She released a small cry to the world as she felt another release, and then another.

Jess had managed to squirm his way into the crook of her neck. His breath was hot against her shoulder as they kept moving. She was just as eager as he was for this to happen. After a few seconds, she heard him breathing shorter and felt the muscles in his back tense up. Just as soon as she was positive that he had to be as tightly strung as she'd ever felt, she felt it release. Crying out with him, she laid back in the bed, spent. He kissed her shoulder gently, just lying on top of her. What she would have always figured as too much weight seemed just perfect, just enough.

"Jess?" she murmured, and she felt him move slightly. "I love you."

His back instantly tensed again, and she frowned. Gently, she pulled him up so that she could see his face. He was looking anywhere but her.

"Rory… I-I'm sorry," he told her, and pulled away.

"Sorry for what?" she cried as he leapt off the bed.

"I can't take you to prom," he told her, running his hands through his hair in frustration.

"Why not?" she asked. Tears stung her eyes, but she blinked them back, wrapping her arms around her chest. Now that he wasn't with her, she realized that it was quite cold.

"I flunked out," he whispered, facing the wall, away from her.

"But… you said that you were fine," she stated, and shuffled off the bed.

"I thought I was," he admitted, shrugging his shoulders.

"Look, it doesn't matter. It's just prom, you can take summer school, or something, right?" she suggested, standing up and walking behind him.

"Why did you choose me?" he asked, defeated. The question had been plaguing him for months. Why had she chosen the bad-boy over the perfect boyfriend?

"I told you already," she said, kissing his shoulder lightly, and he turned around to face her. "I love you."

"But why?" he pressed, and she walked around so that she was in front of him again.

"Why does that matter? I love you, that's all I need to know," she assured him, standing on her tip-toes to kiss him again. The kiss was soft and fleeting, but it got her point across.

Their faces were kept together at the forehead and he pulled her against him again, pressing his hands into the small of her back. A thought passed over his face as she watched.

"I'll get you to prom," he told her with a kiss.

"It doesn't matter," she said again, then pulled away a little bit. "We should probably get dressed… there's a party going on down stairs… someone could walk in."

"Okay," Jess agreed, but pulled her back for another kiss that made her toes curl. It was going to be alright, she knew it.

As she gathered her clothes to her, she turned to him again. A question was pounding in her mind and her heart. It was aching to be asked, but she didn't want to spoil the moment. After fastening her bra, slipping on her underwear and shirt, and finally her pants, she turned to him. He'd been ready a few minutes prior, but was waiting for her.

"Jess… do you love me?" she asked him finally, nervously rubbing her hands together in front of her and looking at him eagerly. Another thought passed over his face, and he looked away, and then back. The stern expression on his face almost made her think the worse. He didn't love her. She dove away from him, but he caught her hand as she was opening the door.

He pulled her back against him and kissed her solidly with a nod. "Yeah," he finally whispered, and her heart sped up.

"Let's go," she told him, a dopey love-sick smile on her face. Although he still looked worried, he nodded and they descended into the party.

As they walked down the stairs, holding hands and giving each other 'looks', they passed by Dean and Lindsey. Neither of them noticed the couple, but Dean noticed them. Rory pulled Jess into another soft kiss and they almost tripped down the last few stairs. When they landed, he pulled her against him again and they kissed passionately. Most of the guests surrounding them stopped to stare or whistle, but the couple was oblivious to the rest of the world.

Their kiss was rudely interrupted, however, by someone coughing behind them. Rory pulled back and looked behind here, where Dean was standing with the 'Frankenstein glare', as Jess had so proudly called it. His height differences was only helped along by the fact that he was standing on a stair above them, it made him look gigantic.

"What do you want?" Jess growled, but Rory pulled herself closer against him, hoping to quell some of the testosterone. After all, he had the girl. There was no need to fight.

"Hi, Dean," she said softly, wrapping her arm around Jess's waist tightly. She wanted to be close to him in the moment, so that he wouldn't do something stupid.

Dean didn't say anything, he just looked angry. Jess glared back and she stepped between them.

"Alright, Jess, how about we just go," she suggested, grabbing Jess's hand and squeezing it tightly. He tore his eyes from Dean to look down at her and nodded slightly.

"Bye, Dean," she sighed and allowed herself to be pulled through the party.

Unfortunately, he followed them. Rory noticed and attempted to rush them faster, not wanting to have to deal with a confrontation. When they got outside, Dean was still there. Jess noticed and turned around to face him, letting Rory's hand go.

"Do you have a problem?" he snarled, not touching the other boy but standing up to him all the same.

"Yeah, you," Dean snapped back and shoved Jess, hard, across the yard.

Jess went flying into some picket fences that were surrounding the property. Instantly, there was a crowd around shouting 'fight, fight, fight', and Rory was scrambling around to stop one of them. At first Jess returned the hit, punching Dean in the face. The bigger flinched and threw himself into Jess's stomach. Rory flinched and ran at them.

"Stop!" she shrieked, grabbing onto Jess's jacket. He looked at her and frowned, then threw Dean off and straightened his clothes, as though gathering himself.

"You're not worth it," Jess finally said as the crowd waited, and turned back to Rory. She smiled at him, happy and proud that he hadn't gone through with the fight.

"Let's go?" she suggested, nodding towards Luke's Diner.

"Yeah," he agreed, grabbing her outstretched hand and leading them away from the party. Rory turned back only once, to see Dean looking after them, angry and forlorn. Slowly, she turned around and looked up at Jess, who was looking concentrated and thoughtful. She stood on her tip-toes and kissed him softly. He snapped out of his trance and kissed her back. They then proceeded to do the half-kissing, half-walking thing that they'd taken all winter to perfect on their way back to Luke's.


	2. Chapter 2

By the time they'd reached Luke's, their hands were already roaming more freely than they ever had before tonight. Rory gasped against his mouth when one of his hands stroked the underside of her breast, and she pulled away a bit, looking around to make sure no one was around.

"What's wrong?" he asked her, running a hand through her hair, the other was tenderly running down her cheek.

"I-I think I need to go," Rory stammered, the full weight of what just happened hitting her hard.

"Why?" he asked, hurt obvious on his face.

"No, don't do that," she requested, kissing him soundly and pulling him against her. His hands fell to her waist and travelled up her back, underneath her shirt. "Jess, stop."

He pulled away from her completely, walking behind the counter and glaring at her angrily. His hair was a mess, his eyes were dangerous and his shirt was on backwards. Despite it all, she couldn't help but smile at him and laugh a little bit. At first he looked confused, and then he shook his head, sighing.

"What?" she asked him between the laughter, and sat down at a table a few meters away.

"I'm flunking out of high school, and you're laughing at me," he said solemnly, and she stopped laughing abruptly.

"What are you talking about?" she demanded, offended that he would even think that.

"I don't know what I'm talking about. I don't know what I'm going to do, or how I'm supposed to feel. I don't want to go back, Rory. I don't want to have to deal with all that shit anymore. It's stupid. Everything that they teach, I can learn on my own. I don't need to take some stupid tests to tell me that I know what I know," he shouted, pointing at the school building across the square.

Normally Rory might have been scared by the outburst, but she knew that it wasn't meant for her. He wasn't shouting because he was blaming her, or even because of her in general. He was shouting because he was confused and disappointed. Again, the desperate need to make that 'look' disappear from her face curled in her stomach.

"Then don't," she said simply, not really believing the words, even as she said them. Was she really telling Jess to drop out of school?

"What?" he asked, obviously as confused as she was.

"Don't go back to high school," she repeated, a solid thought finally forming in her mind.

"Are you feeling alright?" he asked her, scoffing slightly and staring at her like she was pod-Rory.

"Just get your GED at college next year," she told him, moving towards him. She knelt on one of the stools in front of the counter and leaned over so that she was just inches from him. "Take awhile to just… think."

"But Rory, you're going to 'Yale'. What am I supposed to do? Sit here and twiddle my thumbs while my genius girlfriend does amazing things. Hell, you'll probably find Mr. Right there. You know, rich, smart, privileged. Someone who can give you what you deserve," he ranted, and she saw the fear in his eyes for the first time.

Shaking her head in disgust at his words, she almost felt like smacking him. Why was he being so totally irrational? She wasn't like that.

"I don't want some jerk in a Porsche, Jess… I want you," she told him angrily.

"Why? God, why me?" he finally demanded, jerking backwards, away from her.

"I love you," she bit out, and got off the stool. She walked behind the counter while he stared at her like she was some sort of scary monster.

"But why?" he asked again, and his voice almost broke. He looked away from her, his jaw clenching in an attempt to keep back whatever he was feeling.

"Stop it, Jess, stop hiding," she shouted, and he turned to face her, not used to being yelled at.

"I'm not hiding," he told her, and the mask was in place again.

Before she knew what she was doing, her hand reached up and smacked him across the face, hard. They both froze after realizing what she'd done, but Rory recovered first. Tears in her eyes, she turned around and marched out of Luke's. As she was storming down the road, she heard the jingle of Luke's bell, and a few seconds later, felt warm hands encircle her waist.

"Don't, don't leave. Luke's at Nicole's tonight. Stay with me," he begged her from behind. His lips caressed her neck softly and she had to bite back more tears.

"Why can't you just accept me?" she asked him, still not turning around to face him. Her hands, on their own violation, crawled onto his as they pulled her to him.

"Because you're perfect, you're not supposed to love someone like me," he told her honestly, stopping his kissing for a minute.

"I'm not perfect," she whispered, but felt shattered at how much self-loathing her boyfriend was harboring.

"You're perfect to me," Jess admitted honestly, and Rory felt her heart break more for him.

"Okay," she agreed, nodding her head slightly.

"You'll stay?" he asked hopefully, and she turned in his arms.

"I'll stay," she confirmed, and they kissed again, once more stumbling into Luke's diner.

The second that they were behind the curtain, their clothes started to fall off again, only this time, Rory wasn't letting him be the one with the last scrap of clothing on.

gGg

Morning rose, but the two lovers in Luke's diner did not. Rory felt something warm lying across her back, and squirmed slightly. Frowning, she sat up, not recognizing her surroundings for a minute, before realizing that she was lying in Jess's bed… with Jess. Mumbling to herself, she stumbled out of the bed and made a rather loud 'crash' as she landed.

"What the hell?" Jess exclaimed as he jerked up in the bed, shocked awake by the noise. When he realized that it was Rory who'd caused the noise, he leaned over the bed to look at her on the ground. One part of his hair was sticking out to the side, the rest was just mauled. That probably had a lot to do with their activities from the previous night. Nevertheless, he was still drop-dead sexy, and she suddenly felt her will to leave the room compromised. When he smirked, she was positive that she would do almost anything he asked her to. "Going somewhere?"

"It's seven o'clock, Luke will be home soon, and you were probably supposed to open," Rory pointed out, remembering why she had to leave. "And my mom's going to notice that I'm not home, and I'm then she's going to realize what's happened, and that means that I can't tell her, and she's going to be so mad at me." She continued rambling on, grabbing what few clothes she could find around the bed. Unfortunately, not many of them were hers.

"So you're leaving then?" Jess asked with an over-dramatic sigh.

"Yes," Rory grumbled at him, but smiled when she saw him watching her every move. "Stop that!"

"Stop what?" he asked, and jumped out of the bed. Despite having done… things with him the previous night, seeing him naked and in the sunlight was a different matter. The clothes in her hands were numbly dropped to the ground, and he smirked at her. Realizing what she'd done, she averted her eyes, blushing, and grabbed the clothing back up again. The effort was futile, however, as his hands were soon encircling her waist, and his lips were claiming hers again.

"Luke's going to come home," Rory warned half-heartedly.

"I don't care," Jess told her, throwing what little caution he had to the wind and pulling them back onto the bed. During their rather passionate make-out session, the sound of a slamming door echoed through the house from downstairs. Much like the time Luke had caught them during their first kiss, Rory leapt away from him and Jess looked at the door in annoyance.

"Oh my God," Rory panicked, grabbing her clothes and forcing whatever she could find onto her body. In the end, she had to make due with the t-shirt that he'd worn the night previously, and no bra. As the footsteps ascended the stairs, hesitating once or twice, the panic continued to rise. When they stopped on the landing, she looked over at Jess, who was now fully clothed, looking casual and reading a book on his bed, to the door again. She got the message and crawled under his bed. Sure, the closet would be more comfortable, but something told her that was a bad idea.

"Jess!" Luke bellowed as he opened the door, and she cringed.

"What?" Jess snarled back.

"Why is there a… why was this in the hallway?" Luke asked, and although she didn't know for sure, she could take a safe bet and say that it was a soft-pink bra. To be more specific, it was the one that she couldn't find upstairs.

"It liked the view?" Jess suggested nonchalantly.

"Is this Rory's?" Luke demanded, but Jess didn't answer. She flinched when she heard something smash against the wall.

"Woah, what the hell?" Jess shouted, and she felt his weight lift from the bed. A few seconds later, another slam echoed through the room.

"Is she in a closet again? Like what's her name? I thought that you actually cared for Rory!" Luke fumed, opening the doors of the apartment in a rage.

"Calm down!" Jess yelled at him, but Luke was obviously not hearing any of it.

"First you flunk out of school, now you're… doing things with Rory that you shouldn't be doing, but you know what our agreement is, Jess. You're going back next year, and you're going to finish school, and we're going to go to Lorelai's right now and tell her what's going on," Luke directed.

"No, I'm not. I'm not going back to high school… Rory and I talked about it, I'm going to take my GED at college," Jess muttered. She had to listen very hard to make out what he was saying. It wasn't like him to be quiet, but she knew that this was a tender subject.

"She knows?" Luke asked, he sounded genuinely shocked.

"Yeah, she knows," Jess answered angrily.

Shifting slightly, she pushed the blanket away from the end of the bed, so she could see them. They were standing nose-to-nose, puffed chest to puffed chest, red face to red face. If it weren't for the fact that she was too scared to move, she might have laughed. They looked more like father and son than uncle and nephew.

"Get ready, we're going to Lorelai's," Luke finally shouted, then slammed out of the apartment again.

Jess sighed, hooking his thumbs in his pants and giving a sideways glance down at the bed. "Well, that was fun," he cracked.

"Does this happen all the time?" Rory asked as she squirmed out from beneath the bed.

"The shouting? Yeah," he replied with a shrug, and offered her a hand up.

"Thank you," she said as they were inches apart again.

"For what?" he asked against her lips.

"For covering for me," she whispered, and then kissed him softly. When they heard footsteps on the stairs again, Rory was about to leap under the bed, but he hauled her into the washroom with him.

"Jess!" Luke howled again, throwing open the apartment door with enough force to make Rory cringe again.

"What?" Jess hollered back through the door.

"Lorelai is downstairs. She says that Rory didn't come home last night," Luke informed him, slamming his fist against the door. "Is she in there?"

Jess hesitated, looking back at Rory. She deflated, placing her head in her hands and nodding to him.

"Yeah, she's here," Jess finally admitted, and opened the door to reveal both of them.

Luke froze, staring at them, and then opened his mouth to say something before closing it rapidly again. He did the same motion twice before turning around and marching back down the stairs.

"Huh," Jess muttered as he turned around to look at her. "Well… better now than never?"

"She's going to kill us," Rory moaned, standing up to lean against him, hiding her face in his chest. "Not that I regret it, but I probably should have gone home last night."

"Nah, at least we can both be here to face her," he commented, and grabbed her hand firmly in his. "Let's go?"

Rory hesitated, not wanting to leave the protective circle of his arms, not wanting to have to live up to the responsibility that last night put on her, and most definitely not wanting to have to face her mother. Taking a deep breath, she nodded, and they started towards the stairs.


	3. Chapter 3

Their descent down the stairwell seemed to take hours. Jess looked so composed, so ready for this, but Rory felt like a wreck. Her mother was going to slaughter both of them, yet he looked like he was just going down for breakfast. Sighing a little bit, she watched as he pushed the curtain open and then led them out.

The diner was empty with the exception of her mother. Lorelai was sitting at the counter, staring down at the coffee in her hands. There were tears on her face and when she saw them, they started again. Rory flinched and leaned into Jess's shoulder. Luke was standing to one side of the counter. He looked conflicted, whether to comfort Lorelai or shout at them.

"Hi mom," Rory finally said.

"'Hi mom'?" Lorelai repeated. "That's it?"

Silence took over the diner again as they all stood, still as boards. Outside, a small crowd had gathered. They were waiting for Luke's to open, but now that Rory and Jess appeared, the crowd was growing to include the gossips as well.

"I'm sorry I didn't call last night," Rory tried again, not really quite sure how to fix this problem.

"You told me you'd… tell me, before…" Lorelai trailed off. Rory knew this wasn't because she hadn't called. Her mother disapproved of Jess. It was understandable that the good girl wasn't supposed to go off and lose her virginity at a party with the bad boy, but occasionally fate was cruel.

"I'm sorry," Rory said again, letting go of Jess's hand and going to sit beside her mother at the counter.

Jess and Luke shifted awkwardly and they both disappeared to go get something. Jess into the storeroom to look, needlessly, for ketchup, and Luke into the kitchen to start preparing them some breakfast.

"Where you at least safe?" Lorelai requested dejectedly, looking down at the coffee in her hands.

Rory froze when she realized that they hadn't been 'safe'. They'd been anything but safe. They'd had sex twice last night and hadn't used protection either time. She frowned and wrapped her arms around her stomach self-consciously.

"You weren't?" Lorelai shrieked, staring at her, normally responsible, daughter in horror.

Rory didn't respond. She simply looked the opposite direction, holding back tears. What was she supposed to say?

"What about Yale?" Lorelai shouted, grabbing her daughter's shoulder and turning her so that they were face to face.

"I'm fine!" Rory returned, still trying to avert her eyes.

"You weren't supposed to be me, Rory. You're supposed to be going places, doing things!" Lorelai reminded her, and she cringed away again. Instead of continuing her one-sided screaming at her, she went to a more responsive member of the party, who had chosen that moment to come out of the storeroom.

"This wasn't supposed to happen. It's your fault!" Lorelai screamed in his face, and he frowned at her, not quite sure what he was being blamed for.

"Mom, stop it. It was both of our choices!" Rory reasoned, jumping off the stool and trying to defend her boyfriend.

"Stay out of this!" Lorelai shouted at her daughter, and then went back to Jess. "I knew that you were trouble, I knew that I never should have let you near Rory. You should have stayed in New York after you tried to destroy her life the first time!"

"What?" Jess asked, appalled at the accusation.

"You know? When you attempted to kill her in the car accident?" Lorelai reminded him, and Rory saw the fight in his eyes. She knew that this was going to get bad.

"That wasn't my fault! She's old enough to make her own damn decisions without you attempting to look over her shoulder," he responded, slamming the ketchup down on the counter angrily.

"What's going on?" Luke asked as he drifted out of the kitchen.

"No, she's obviously not. If she's lowered her standards to you, then I'm not finished yet," Lorelai accused, and shoved him a little bit. Rory saw the clenching of both his jaw and his fist. He didn't like being pushed around, but for the sake of civility, he turned back to her without doing anything rash.

"Hey," Luke shouted before Jess could, and grabbed Lorelai's arm. He yanked her away from both of them and to the other side of the diner.

"Jess…?" Rory asked, trying to move towards him. He looked at her as though he didn't know her and turned to walk upstairs again. Rory looked at him, and then back to her mother and Luke, who were screaming their lungs out about the situation. Shaking her head, she figured that this was about as bad as things could get. Tears stung her eyes as she ran upstairs. Jess needed her more than her mother.

"Jess, open up," she requested as she stepped up to the door. Trying the handle, she found it locked. "Jess! Please?"

"What?" he shouted when he opened the door.

"What she said wasn't true. I love you, it doesn't matter what she says!" Rory attempted to tell him, but he scoffed and moved farther into his bedroom. "Listen to me!"

"What the hell is there to listen to? The entire time I've been with you, all I've been told is that I'm not good enough for you. At first I could deal with that, but now? It's like everywhere we go, we're being watched, and I'm being judged, and God-forbid I kiss you in public, or we hold hands. I hate this place," Jess raved, not looking at her the entire time.

"Then come with me," Rory suggested quietly.

"What?" he asked her, turning to face her in confusion.

"To New Haven, come with me," she suggested again, shrugging her shoulders lightly.

"And do what? My car is gone, I can't get to Wal-Mart, and I won't be able to work here," he objected, motioning at the diner.

"We'll figure it out. Please, just… calm down, think about it?" Rory begged, reaching out and grabbing one of his hands lightly.

He didn't say anything, simply stared at their joined hands. At first all she could see was the torture that this situation was causing him, but then his expression changed into one of thoughtfulness.

"New Haven?" he asked quietly.

"Sure, why not? They probably have a ton of bookstores, you could work for one," she said lightly and walked towards him.

"I guess," he agreed, nodding his head.

"We can look for apartments during the summer, and maybe get another roommate or two," she continued, leaning her head against his chest. The conversation stopped there. He wrapped his arms around her waist, letting her hand go, and kissed the top of her head lightly.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too," Rory replied, just as quietly, and they stood there for a few minutes.

The shouting from downstairs finally brought them back to reality. It was getting nearer to the staircase, and was soon travelling faster towards them. Rory frowned and turned in his arms. Their hands joined, fingers laced, over her stomach and they watched the door in apprehension.

"You're not going up there!" Luke hollered.

"Yes I am!" Lorelai screamed back, and the door was opened viciously. "We're going home."

"Rory, you can stay as long as you want to," Luke objected, looking at her over her mother's shoulder.

"No, we're going home, now," Lorelai said again, glaring at both of them.

"I don't want to go home yet," Rory responded, her hands tensing in Jess's.

"Well I don't want you to get pregnant, I guess neither of us is getting what we want," Lorelai hissed sarcastically.

"She's not going to get pregnant!" Luke shouted again. Jess's hands tensed in hers for a minute, but she grasped them tightly, attempting to reassure him. She wasn't going to get pregnant; she had too much ahead of her. They both knew that a pregnancy could screw it all up. Something told her not to worry, so she was going to listen to that something. It was the only voice of reason in this entire shouting match.

"I want to stay here," Rory voiced again, breaking the contemplative silence that had taken over all four of them.

"No," Lorelai snapped again.

"Mom…" Rory sighed, hiding her face in Jess's chest.

"No, I will not be 'mom-ed'. You screwed up, big time, and now we need to fix this," Lorelai fumed, reaching out for them. Jess stepped back, away from her reaching hands, and Luke stepped towards them, to defend if he had to.

"Fix this?" Rory asked, shaking her head and staring at her mother in confusion.

"Yes, we're going to Hartford and we're going to put you on the pill. Then we're going to go home and you're going to be grounded for a long, long time," Lorelai told her, and took another step towards them.

"Lorelai," Luke warned, not wanting to have to do anything rash to keep the woman in line

"What?" she shrieked back at him. "Can you not see what he's doing to her?!"

"What, what am I doing?" Jess finally said from behind her. His body was tight as a spring again, but this time it was looking for a fight.

"You're ruining her life!" Lorelai screamed, pointing at Rory while glaring at Jess.

"Lorelai, leave," Luke bellowed.

"What?" Lorelai gasped back at him, looking hurt.

"Get out of my diner, and don't come back until you know what you're saying," Luke demanded, pointing at the door.

"Not without Rory," Lorelai snapped and stepped towards her daughter again. Jess pushed Rory behind him and Luke stepped so that they were both in front of her, and she felt her heart breaking. She had to choose between them? Why was it that people couldn't accept this? First Jess, now her mother, the only person who seemed to be able to accept them was Luke.

"She's staying," Jess stated evenly, his fists clenched at his sides.

Lorelai looked at her over her 'protectors' shoulder's. She looked broken, upset to the point where she didn't know what to do with herself. As she turned to leave, tears hit and sobs wracked her shoulders. She collapsed to the ground and Rory rushed around the men to help her.

"You weren't supposed to be me," Lorelai repeated, clinging to her daughter.

"I'm not," Rory attempted to tell her, holding her close.

"But…" Lorelai started, but trailed off, the fight slowly leaving her system.

"I'm going to take her home," Rory said quietly.

"I'll drive," Luke informed her and grabbed his keys.

When she refused to stand up, Luke gathered her into his arms. Jess and Rory watched as their guardians strolled out into the street from the window above. The crowd there had gathered ten-fold once they'd seen the shouting.

"I'm sorry," Jess told her quietly.

"About what?" Rory asked, grabbing his hand and rubbing it gently with her fingers.

"I didn't mean for… this to happen," he sighed, motioning towards the truck.

"She's just scared," Rory shrugged it off and stood up on her tip toes to kiss him. One of his arms wrapped around her shoulders and he pulled her tightly against him. The kiss quickly grew in passion and she had to pull back before it went too far.

"She doesn't need to be… I'll take care of you," he promised, running a hand through her hair and keeping them pressed against each other.

"I know," she assured him, laying her head against his chest. A cough from the door alerted them to Luke's presence, again.

"Uh… she's ready to go," he stated awkwardly.

Jess kissed her forehead and nudged her towards the door. "I'll call you later," he muttered, and looked back outside.

"Later?" she pressed, hating it when he said that.

"He'll call you when he gets off work," Luke assured her and led her out the door, down the stairs, and into the truck.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I'm sorry that I've been so... spacey lately. I've been going through a really rough patch of anti-GGness that has come with being around anti-Literati people. So... I've had to watch a lot, and a LOT of season three to get myself through it. After watching Swan Song, Happy Birthday, Baby and Keg! Max! ten billion times, I have finally come up with the next chapter to this story. Killeth not, but reviews always help.**

-gGg-

School for the next two weeks could have easily been described as the seventh circle of hell. She was so nervous about the possibility of being pregnant that she hardly noticed a thing going on around her. Fortunately, she found herself getting the familiar cramps and bleeding at the end of the month, and everyone relaxed. She and her mother hadn't talked since it happened, they'd done a very good job of avoiding each other, and her and Jess hadn't had sex again in fear of jinxing their luck. True to her word, her mother had put her on the pill, which she was fine with.

Lane had had a panic attack when she'd found out what had happened, and where. It seemed like there was only really one person in the entire town who didn't know that she and Jess had slept together: Dean. It worked for her, she was still angry at him.

"Miss Gilmore?" her teacher called, and she was snapped back to reality.

"Huh?" she asked, looking around in embarrassment when she realized that everyone's eyes were on her.

"A bit more focus please?" the teacher requested, and she nodded, blushing.

When she arrived home, Jess was sitting on the front porch… talking with her mother. She almost tripped over her feet in shock. What was going on? Even she hadn't been able to talk to her mother yet. Not wanting her boyfriend castrated, she ran towards them.

"Uh… hi," she said hesitantly, frowning at them both.

"Sit down," Lorelai said coldly, and Rory complied, sitting beside Jess. He grasped her hand tightly in his own, but didn't take his eyes off her mother.

"Jess says that you want to move in together," Lorelai informed her quietly. "He says that he's found a place and that he wants to take you to see it this weekend."

"What?" Rory asked, turning to Jess with excitement. He smirked at her, his eyes still tight, and grasped her hand tightly in his own. "Since when?"

Lorelai coughed, bringing the focus back to her. Her mother sighed, running a hand through her brown hair uneasily. Rory recognized the signs. This was the way she always reacted around Jess. It was the 'I don't like him, I know he'll hurt you, but there's nothing I can do about it' look.

"I don't know if it's such a good idea," she finally declared.

"Why?" Rory demanded, offended.

"Rory," Jess chided softly, holding her hand tighter. "Look, I love your daughter, and as much as I might hate you, and your family, I'm willing to do anything," he saw her perk up at this idea, and amended, "almost anything, to get this. I want this, she wants this, why can't you just… accept it?"

"Because you're not even going to graduate, what the hell kind of confidence do you expect me to have?" she snapped at him.

"I think that you should trust your daughter," Rory muttered bitterly.

"Rory," Lorelai attempted to amend, obviously seeing the flaw in her logic.

"Then I won't go to Europe," Rory blurted.

"What?" her two companions said in unison.

"I-I won't go to Europe," she stated again, and Jess seemed to go into a state of shock.

"Like hell you won't!" Lorelai shouted.

"So, what? You can tell me that I can't do what I want to do, but I can't tell you that I don't want to do something if I don't want to it?" Rory rambled a little bit.

"Jess, leave… now," Lorelai sighed, placing a hand to her forehead. Rory recognized this look too. It was an extension of the 'Jess-look'.

"Rory?" he attempted to confirm.

"Bye, mom," Rory said, pulling Jess to his feet and hauled him away.

"Where are you going?" Lorelai shouted after her.

"I'll call you," Rory replied, walking quicker. Once they were about a block away, she felt a pull on her arm. She stopped and turned to him with a sigh, stopping their mad dash.

"What was that?" he inquired, frowning and attempting to figure out the situation.

"That was me… doing something impulsive," she said, smiling nervously.

"You just told your mother that you were willing to give up your graduation dream so that you could move in with me," he specified, still not believing it.

"You're worth it," she shrugged with a larger smile, kissing him. One of his hands fastened around her neck, pulling her to him and deepening the kiss.

"Let's go," he said with a smirk. It was the first smirk she'd seen on him in a long, long while that his eyes brightened as well.

"Where are we going?" she asked, as he pulled her towards the shopping district.

"Dress shopping," he answered shortly.

"You're taking me dress shopping?" she deadpanned, attempting to pull on his hand to stop him. He resisted and pulled her harder, causing her to stumble a little bit.

"Nope," he shook his head.

"Then…?" she pressed.

He didn't answer her, very Jess-like. When they entered into the store, however, Lane was already scanning the hangers, looking at the dresses. It took her a few seconds to actually notice them.

"Rory!" she squealed, running towards her with a red dress. "Good?"

"Uh… doesn't Mrs. Kim have to approve it?" Rory mumbled in reply.

"Oh yeah," Lane's face fell, and she placed the dress back on its rack.

"See you later," Jess told her, kissing her and leaving the store.

"So… do you know how he's getting you to prom?" Lane asked. Her confidence in Jess was obviously about as much as her mother's.

"Nope, but that's the mystery of Jess," Rory shrugged, and felt that stupid grin on her face. The mystery was part of his appeal, even before she started dating him.

"How's your mother taking it?" Lane inquired, attempting not to act too interested.

"Well… she was getting better, until Jess mentioned the apartment," Rory sighed, looking through the racks and pulling out the occasional dress.

"Apartment?" Lane chirped, but Rory could hear the disapproval in her friend's voice.

"Yup, we're moving in together next year," she said firmly, not bothering to look up from her browsing until Lane's hand touched her shoulder.

"Wait… you're moving in with him?" Lane attempted to clarify.

"Uh… from where we stand right now, yup," Rory muttered, looking anywhere but her friend's face. She knew the expression that was on it, concern, disappointment, fear.

"And… you got her to agree to this, how?" Lane pressed.

"She didn't. I told her that I wasn't going to Europe if she attempted to force me to stay," Rory brushed off, stepping past Lane and looking at more dresses.

"Woah, woah, wait a minute. You've been waiting for this trip for… well… as long as I've known you," Lane stated, following her.

"Yup," Rory replied, and pulled out a dress. Her eyes widened and she stared at it like it was the most beautiful thing in the world.

"As off topic as this is, wow… that's perfect," Lane interjected, and they both admired the dress in awe. "Go try it on! But don't think that this conversation's finished!"

"I don't," Rory muttered bitterly, wondering how Luke was going to take the information. As supportive as the diner-man was, he probably wouldn't be too accepting of them taking that step.

It took a few seconds to get into the dress, but when she did, she knew that this was it. She ran her hands down the material, listening to the fabric crinkle.

"Let's see!" Lane shouted from outside the change rooms. Rory stepped out, blushing a little bit. "Wow."

"Yeah… but I can't afford it," she pouted, checking the price tag. It was over four hundred dollars.

"What about your mom?" Lane chirped, seeming to have forgotten their previous conversation.

"Well, see, there's the whole 'I'm not talking to her' issue going on," Rory reminded her, and watched as her friend's face fell again.

"Yeah… that could cause problems," Lane agreed, but then gave her a look. "Call Jess?"

"What?" Rory gasped, and stared at her like she'd grown another head.

"Unless your grandmother would…?" Lane suggested awkwardly.

"I don't know," Rory shrugged, wrapping her hands around her waist, suddenly realizing the flaw in their situation. "Maybe?"

"Call her, and then call Jess if that falls through," Lane said with a lot more confidence.

"Okay," Rory sighed, and grabbed her cell phone.

Five phone calls and billions of promises later, she'd managed to get her grandmother to buy it for her. With a large grin on her face, she started to rush home, wanting to tell her mother about her dress. As she hit her lawn, she hesitated, thinking about the fight. She frowned and chewed on her lip a little bit, indecisive, but finally started across the lawn. The door opened silently and she stepped inside the house warily, not knowing if she'd be welcome at the moment.

"Mom? I bought my prom dress," she called, and stepped inside, looking around.

"Oh? I thought that Jess wasn't graduating," Lorelai replied nonchalantly from the kitchen.

"He didn't, but he's still taking me," Rory shrugged, hugging the dress to her chest protectively as she walked towards her mother's voice nervously.

"Really?" Lorelai asked skeptically.

"Yup," Rory nodded, and sat down at one of the kitchen chairs. "So… do you want to see my dress?"

"Sure," Lorelai nodded, but Rory could see the pain that it was causing her. Sighing, she dragged herself into her room and got into her dress. Despite how terrible the situation was, she couldn't help but smile as she saw herself in the gown. Her hands ran delicately along the blue material, tracing it as it gave way to the softer, lighter blue beneath the top layer. A thrill of anticipation ran through her and she grinned at her reflection, biting her lip and imagining Jess was there with her.

After her fantasy had played out in her mind, she blushed and attempted to get her mind back on track. She picked out a set silver necklace set and let her hair out of its ponytail. Smiling at her reflection once more, she opened the door and stepped into the kitchen.

"What do you think?" she asked as she left the room.

"Wow," Lorelai replied, much in the same way that Lane had. "That's… gorgeous. How much was it?"

"It was on sale," Rory lied and rushed over to her mother. She hugged her tightly, seeing the tears in her eyes.

"So… this is it?" Lorelai inquired, wiping tears from her eyes.

"What?" Rory replied, not understanding the abrupt subject change.

"You're a woman now. Having sex, moving out on your own, going to prom…" Lorelai clarified, hugging her again.

"Mom!" Rory cried, still not liking the idea of hearing her mother saying the word aloud.

"What?" her mother mock questioned.

"So… are we okay?" Rory inquired after a few minutes.

"Not by a long shot. I still don't want you moving in with him… but I guess I don't have much of a choice," Lorelai sighed, shrugging her shoulders helplessly.

"I love him," Rory stated simply. "I want to be with him…"

"I know, I know, just… don't let him be your Christopher, okay?" Lorelai quipped.

"He won't," Rory brushed off, hugging her once more and exiting to her room with a broad smile on her face. Sure, her mother didn't exactly approve, but at least now she wasn't going to tie her to the bed and force her to stay. It was an improvement, even if it did take the threat of a lifetime to make it happen.


	5. Chapter 5

Rory felt a twinge of fear in her stomach. It was tightening by the second. Her hand was clasped lightly in Jess's on their way back from a day of 'reading' at the bridge. Monday had come and gone, so had Tuesday, it was Wednesday and she still hadn't been able to ask him. Sighing, she tugged a little bit on his hand, pulling him to a stop a few steps away from the diner.

"Jess?" she started, but couldn't think of a way to continue.

"Yeah?" he answered, his eyes burning into her. She'd been acting strangely all week, he'd kept asking why, but she hadn't been able to tell him yet. Her hand nervously ran along the strap of her bag, her only bargaining chip lay inside.

"I need to ask you a question," she told him firmly, but didn't continue. The fear that had nested in her stomach travelled up to her throat, causing a blockage that wouldn't allow words.

"Huh," he muttered, rolling his eyes and letting her hand go. He shoved his hands into his pockets and stared at her with questioning eyes.

"Are you busy this Friday?" she blurted out, and cringed a little bit.

"Yeah, working, why?" he inquired suspiciously. She squirmed under his gaze and her hands started twisting in front of her.

"Can you come to dinner with me again?" she got out, but the fear didn't go away. This was only one of the billion promises she'd made to her grandmother.

"No," he shrugged bluntly and sighed. "I'm not going back into that house ever again."

"Please, Jess, you have to try! I mean, my grandparents are really, really important to me and I really need you to get along with them, especially with what's going on with my mother right now, and after you apologized you did say that there would be a 'next time', so can't that next time be now. Besides, I kinda promised that I'd bring you when grandma bought the dress for me," she rambled, attempting to get it all out in one shot.

"What?" he groaned, looking very upset.

"Yup," she said, begging him with her eyes.

"I could have bought you the dress," he defended.

"No, you don't have the money," she shrugged, having already discussed this more than once with him.

"I do have the money, my car was stolen, remember?" he grumbled.

"You need the money for college, remember?" she taunted him back, glaring lightly.

"I can get a loan," he attempted, but her glare only deepened.

"Please? You promised!" she reminded him.

"When did I promise?" he asked skeptically.

"After you told me what happened to your eye," she returned, and ran her hand gently along the eye that had been brutalized by… a football. There was still something wrong with his story, but she had yet to figure out what had actually caused the bruise.

"That wasn't a promise. That was a confirmation that I would meet them at a later date," he objected, but sighed. "Last time you brought me a book, and a kiss."

Rory smiled and leaned forward, kissing him softly, with a promise of more to come, and reached into her bag. She brought out a heavy book that she'd had to go into Hartford to obtain. She blushed furiously as she handed it to him. His eyes widened almost comically when he saw it, and she felt that this moment was worth the embarrassment that buying it had cost her.

"'The Art of Sex'," he quoted. "Huh."

She bit her lip and shrugged. He looked at her from under his lashes and smirked. He brought her closer and kissed her gently. Before either of them meant it, the kiss started to turn into something more. They still hadn't had sex since the scare, despite her being on the pill. Now, with his hands in hair and hers running dangerously close to being under his shirt, she thought that it was high time that they amend that.

Stumbling, they kissed their way into Luke's and around the tables that they both knew well. Rory was sure that there were probably dozens of eyes staring at them right now, knowing precisely what was going to happen in a few minutes.

"Not in the diner!" Luke shouted at them, which broke them apart for a moment. Rory blushed and smiled slightly, before Jess took her hand and pulled her towards the curtain.

"I'm going on a break," he said to Luke while pushing the curtain aside.

"You were just on a break," Luke objected, following them and attempting to keep them from leaving.

"Well, I'm going on another one," Jess returned, and smirked dangerously. Rory bit her lip and begged Luke with her eyes to let him go.

"How long?" Luke finally grumbled.

Jess didn't answer. His smirk just widened and pulled he her towards the stairs. Rory grinned back and allowed him to lead her. She heard the distant jingling of the diner's bell, but ignored it in favor of rushing up the stairs after Jess.

The second that the door of the apartment was closed, they were kissing again. The book was thrown to the side and they were soon on the couch, him pressing against her through the material of their clothing. She gasped and helped him take off her jacket, both of them struggling to get the clothing barriers off. When they were busy working on his pants, she still had her bra and skirt on, the door to the apartment burst open.

The two teenagers leapt apart, Rory attempting to cover herself. When her eyes rose up to see who had interrupted them, she had to blink a few times to make sure that her eyes weren't deceiving her.

"Dean?" she asked.

"Get out," Jess spat angrily, standing in only his jeans, which were partially unzipped. Rory couldn't help but stare for a few seconds, before her eyes were drawn back to the angry man at the door.

"You bastard!" Dean shouted, and rushed at Jess. The fight started instantly, the boys met in the middle and Jess went down, Dean riding him. Jess didn't say down for too long, after the first two punches connected with his face, he threw Dean off and kneed him in the stomach, slamming them both down to the ground, Dean on the bottom, and punched him a few times in rapid succession.

"Stop it!" Rory screamed, and grabbed Jess's arm as he was about to punch Dean again. "Stop it."

Jess hesitated, looking from Rory down to Dean and then back again. He gently took his arm out of her grasp and lifted himself to his feet. She could see anger written on every muscle on his body. Her eyes turned coldly down to Dean, who was attempting to lift himself to his feet. Their eyes connected and Rory couldn't help but feel a decent amount of hatred towards him. He'd ruined a good moment, and a good mood.

"Get out," she shrieked, feeling tears stinging her eyes. "Go find Lindsey and leave me alone!"

"Rory-," he started, but she turned away, going to see Jess. She kissed his bare shoulder gently and he turned to look at her. She smiled, and he seemed relieved. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her closely.

Rory heard the sound of the door slamming behind her, and she flinched at the force that was used. Her hands fluttered over his face, where a bruise was forming. Gently, she pulled his face down to her and kissed the blossoming bruises.

"Let's get some ice?" she suggested. He nodded and grabbed his shirt. She grabbed hers and they both tugged on the material. When they were fully clothed again, their hands met and they started down into the diner.

The first thing that told her something was wrong was the silence. Luke's diner was never silent. She glanced at Jess, who seemed to have noticed too. They pushed the curtain to the side and looked out into the room. Luke was standing with a ladle brandished at Dean, who was being stared down by Lorelai, who was blocking his retreat from the diner.

"What's going on?" she whispered to Jess, drawing the attention of a couple of people who were near them.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll leave them alone," Lorelai screamed at Dean emotionally.

"How can you just… stand there? He's corrupting her!" Dean shouted back, which caused Luke to move from behind the counter, the ladle waving dangerously.

Jess abandoned her hand in favor of rushing after Luke. He snatched the ladle out of the older man's hand, but it didn't stop his uncle from swinging his fist at Dean's face. Dean, who hadn't expected the attack, found himself on the ground, under someone from the Danes family, for the second time in five minutes.

"Get out of my diner," Luke bit out, his anger seeming to ride the air.

"And stay away from my daughter… and her… and… Jess," Lorelai finished, although she had to choke out the last word. Dean glared at all of them angrily, but finally left the diner.

Silence took over the room and everyone shifted uncomfortably. Luke was the first to break the tension, going into the back to grab some ice for Jess's face. When he returned, they all made their way over to a table and sat down, staring at each other uncomfortably.

"Did you ask him?" Lorelai started, looking at Rory.

"Yup," Rory nodded, grabbing Jess's hand under the table. His other hand was preoccupied holding ice to his face.

"And the other thing?" Lorelai pressed.

"Nope," Rory sighed, looking down at the table dejectedly. She hadn't gotten around to 'that' yet. The conversation dwindled down again, no one wanting to address this new complication, and no one really knowing how to start the conversation about what had happened a few minutes ago.

"So… what happened up there?" Luke finally grumbled, needing to break the tension that had grown over the table. Rory let out a breath of air, glad that someone had the courage to bring it up.

"We were…" she trailed off, unable to finish.

"He came up and started shouting. He hit me, I hit him back," Jess shrugged, looking away from them but his hand tensed around hers a little bit.

"And… what? You just let him go?" Lorelai asked skeptically.

"Yeah, he did," Rory confirmed with a small smile and a nod. She looked at Jess out of the corner of her eye, again proud that he'd pulled away from a fight with Dean. "Then he came down here…"

"Lorelai came in," Luke supplied gruffly.

"He started shouting, I hit him… he shouted some more, Luke grabbed the ladle…" Lorelai continued on with their strange story.

"Then he accused me of corruption, gee… how original," Jess muttered in his little corner, glaring at Lorelai a little bit.

"He's not wrong," Rory reminded him, turning his head and kissing him softly. They smiled at each other and kissed again, but where interrupted by a cough on the other side of the table. Rory blushed and looked over at the adults. "Sorry. Do you think he'll try again?"

"Probably, he's still crazy about you," Lorelai shrugged.

"It's hard to watch someone you love with someone else," Luke added impulsively, and was then given looks from everyone else at the table. He bristled a little bit, looking anywhere but Lorelai and attempted to shrug it off. "What? I was in high school too."

"Right," Jess smirked and gave a knowing look between the two adults.

"So how's Friday going to work?" Lorelai said after a few more seconds of uncomfortable silence.

"Right… your car," Rory agreed, remembering that it was gone again.

"Uh… yeah… about that," Luke coughed, drawing everyone's eyes again. "It's… in my garage."

"What?" Jess shouted, looking very angry.

"You were flunking out of school!" Luke attempted to explain.

"Jeez," Jess grumbled and sat back down in the seat, his hand clenching around Rory's to the point where it was almost painful. She squeezed back and he let some of the tension melt away so that it was just them holding hands again.

"So… I guess, Rory are you…?" Lorelai didn't have to finish.

"I'll go with Jess," Rory replied softly. She needed to make sure that, if he was late or something stupid like that, at least she would be there to defend him.

"Come on," Luke started after another few seconds of silence and grabbed Jess. "Back to work."

"I'll call you after I'm done," Jess promised, kissing Rory softly as he was yanked away.

"How mad do you figure he's going to be?" Rory asked as they watched Jess moving around the diner.

"That all depends on what you promise him afterwards. Did the book work?" Lorelai inquired, looking at her daughter with a small smile. Rory blushed a little bit, biting her lip.

"Yup," she nodded, and the girls shared a moment.

"Home?" her mother suggested hopefully.

"Home," Rory confirmed. They stood up, linked arms, and skipped out, singing "We're off to see the wizard!" at the top of their lungs, earning the baffled stares of everyone in the diner.


	6. Chapter 6

"Remind me why I willingly agreed to enter hell?" Jess muttered as they drove into the Gilmore Mansion's driveway.

"It had something to do with a book," Rory reminded him, her blue eyes wide and innocent. He looked over to her and had to hold back a smirk. She bit her lip, loving the she had that affect on him.

"We're late," he pointed out as they arrived, but neither of them wanted to get out of the car. "Does she know?"

"Know what?" Rory asked, turning to look at him in the car.

He didn't answer her, just looked at her with a raised an eyebrow. A soft blush rose on her cheeks and she had to turn away. Her eyes caught on the mansion's door and a sigh escaped her lips.

"Come on," she coaxed, getting out of his rust bucket of a car and starting towards the door.

"You didn't answer me," he scolded playfully, grabbing her hand and stopping her. As she turned around to object, he caught her behind her back and pulled her into a kiss. She felt her knees melt and she had to keep her arms wrapped around his neck to keep from collapsing.

"We're late," she objected halfheartedly between kisses. One of his hands slid down her leg and crawled up her skirt, carefully out of the view of the mansion, in case anyone was watching.

"Come on," he said suddenly, breaking away from her and walking towards the house, a small smirk on his face.

"Jess," she gasped, her legs still a massive amount of jelly. Suddenly she realized what he was doing. She closed her eyes, attempting to get her body under control, but all she could think about was getting back into his car and driving to a motel somewhere that they wouldn't be disturbed. She pictured his lips running across her skin and her breath caught.

"Rory?" he inquired, placing a hand on the side of her face. She leaned into it, opening her eyes and gazing at him in longing. His eyes were drowning masses of chocolate. He wanted this as much as she did.

"Let's go," she moaned, pulling him against her and kissing him again. They stumbled as she pulled him back towards the car.

"We're late," he echoed her former complaint, but she brushed it off. He was teasing her, and it was working. Every word he said was running up and down her back, sending shivers through every part of her body.

"Ahem," sounded from the door, just as they had made it back to the car. She was pinned against its side, his arms on either side of her and his face pressed into hers. Her hands were in his hair, absolutely destroying whatever style he'd worked for hours on, and she could imagine that she probably didn't look much better.

"Hi, grandma," Rory whimpered from behind him, gazing at the stern woman from over her boyfriend's shoulder. Emily Gilmore did not look impressed.

"Buzzkill," Jess muttered, but turned around to face their enemy for the evening. Rory observed as he attempted to catch his breath and she couldn't help but let her eyes wander a little bit. Her face turning scarlet, she looked away from him and attempted to follow him without actually looking in his general direction.

"Rory Gilmore, what has gotten into you?" Emily spat, glaring at Jess menacingly.

Despite all her good attempts, she couldn't help but look at Jess. He was attempting with all his might not to smirk again, and she suddenly felt the urge to as well. What had gotten into her? Well… wasn't that the tale. A scoff from her grandmother snapped her out of her fantasy, bringing her back to reality with a jump.

"Uh…" she began, but she couldn't think of anything to say.

"We got caught up in the moment," Jess offered with a shrug. "Things have been tense."

"Tense?" her grandmother repeated, glaring at him.

"Wrong word," he grumbled, looking away. Rory couldn't help but smile at him. He'd come to her rescue. He'd failed miserably, but he had tried.

"Is mom here?" Rory asked finally, attempting to change the subject.

"No, and you two are already late. It's a wonder that you managed to get into the schools that you did with the way that your family is run," Emily said, and Rory felt a stab of hurt at the words.

"You don't know anything about the way her family is run," Jess rumbled, stepping up the stairs so that he was on the same level as her grandmother.

"What do you know about anything?" she snapped back, and a staring contest broke out.

"Jess… it's okay," Rory attempted to calm him, stepping up the stairs as well and taking his hand. When he didn't stop the staring contest, she kissed his knuckles lightly, and he blinked, turning to her. Their eyes caught and she smiled at him. He nodded at her and stepped past her grandmother, entering into the house without permission, pulling Rory with him.

"May I take your coats?" the maid asked the second they stepped in, with Emily quick on their heels.

"They won't be staying long," she chirped from behind them, even as Rory was removing her coat.

"Grandma?" Rory asked, not used to this cold shoulder that she was being given. Granted, she had just been caught making out with her boyfriend, about to ditch dinner, which was probably not the best impression to make, but she hadn't expected her to be this bad.

"We'll just wait for your mother to get here," Emily replied cheerfully as she walked into the study.

"Is she okay?" Jess inquired as her grandmother left the room. Rory looked up at him for a moment and shrugged helplessly.

"I've never seen her like this," she admitted, and they both inched into the study, where Emily was downing some alcoholic beverage like it was her life's sustenance.

"Do we go in there?" he whispered, neither wanting to interrupt the woman's drinking splurge. Just as she was about to reply, the door opened and slammed behind them. Rory jumped out of her skin and turned around to face her mother, who was staring at them both in amusement.

"It's just me," she said with a large grin. Jess rolled his eyes and Rory wrapped her arms around her waist. "What's going on?" Rory was hesitant to tell her what had just happened, not wanting disapproval from both her grandmother and her mother.

"Grandma caught us…" she started, but couldn't figure out the words to go after that.

"She caught you…?" Lorelai prodded, glaring at Jess.

"She caught us making out, and now she's drinking like a fish," Rory blurted out, grabbing Jess's hand and looking around her shoulder at Emily, who was now on her third glass of whatever liquid she'd been downing all night.

"Oh boy, that's not good," Lorelai muttered and walked into the study with a large smile on her face. Jess and Rory followed slower, neither really looking forward to being there. "Hi mom!"

"Lorelai, there you are!" Emily hissed, and Rory flinched. Jess pulled her to him, protecting her from whatever lashing they were about to get. "How can you let this go on!?"

"What?" Lorelai deadpanned, looking around as though it wasn't obvious.

"That! Him, it's… disgusting! I can't believe that she's even considering taking him to Chilton! He's a shame on the Gilmore name!" Emily ranted, and Rory felt Jess tighten beside her.

"Chilton?" he asked against the back of neck. Even in their situation, she shivered.

"I'll tell you after?" she pleaded, noticing his angry eyes. He didn't look happy, but he didn't say anything else.

"Well… I'm sure that he'd be happy to 'not' go if you didn't want him there," Lorelai begged off with a shrug.

"And let Rory go to her rightful prom alone? I wouldn't hear of it," Emily shrieked, causing all three of them to flinch.

"Stars Hollow's prom is my rightful prom," Rory grumbled, which gained her the stares of everyone in the room. "What? I've never wanted to go to Chilton's prom, ever. The only reason I went to Chilton in the first place was to get into Harvard, and now I'm not going to Harvard, I'm going to Yale, so I can be closer to Jess. I guess it doesn't matter anymore, though, because I'm moving in with him next year."

Emily paled, and Rory cringed at her own words. "You've had sex with him, haven't you?" she asked, her voice sounding small and bitter.

"Yes," Rory stated proudly, glad to have Jess's arms around her.

"Not that it's any of your business," Lorelai burst in.

"You're going to turn out just like her…" Emily spat, staring at Lorelai in contempt.

"Come on, Rory… we're leaving," Lorelai told her, putting a hand on her shoulder and steering her out of the house.

"Don't you dare leave this house!" Emily shouted, following them with, yet another, drink in her hand. "If you leave, so help me, don't come back."

Rory paused, thinking of what that could potentially mean for her future. She bit her lip, biting back tears, and walked to the door. Her hands grasped the handle and she pulled it open.

"Rory…" Lorelai objected quietly. She looked up at the three other people in the room. Lorelai looking worried, sad and helpless, Jess looking angry and confused and her grandmother looking superior and controlling.

"I wanted to like you… I wanted to make you happy," Rory whispered, but her voice still carried. "I guess it wasn't enough." She turned and walked out the door. Jess followed after her without another thought, but her mother hovered behind them.

The second that the night air was in her lungs, she started sobbing. Jess held her to her, not understanding what was going on. His hands ran through her hair comfortingly, teasing out knots and creating new ones. She collapsed against him as sobs wracked her body. In one moment, in one stupid moment, she'd lost everything. Yale wouldn't offer her financial aid, and now her only form of money had been cut off. She wasn't going to Yale, she wasn't going to Harvard, and she wasn't even going to Princeton.

Blackness surrounded here, she felt so tired. It took her a few seconds to realize that she was in Jess's car again, and that they were already on their way back to Stars Hollow. Blinking her eyes, she looked up at him. His shirt was still stained with her tears and mascara and his eyes were cold and hard.

"Jess?" she asked, wanting to know what had happened.

"Hey," he said, attempting to keep his tone light, but it was obvious that he was tense.

"What happened?" she asked, shuffling in the seat in an attempt to get comfortable.

"Let's just say that Lorelai and I finally have something in common. A hatred of your grandparents," he replied with a shrug, but she could see every line of his body was tighter than a spring.

"What happened?" she repeated, feeling exhausted and terrified that her dreams had been destroyed.

"You were crying so hard you fell asleep, Lorelai came out of the house and told me that your grandmother is revoking their agreement of dinners for Yale money," he explained, and her heart clenched painfully. "Your mother's going to sell the inn."

"She can't do that," Rory said resolutely.

"She's on her way to Sookie's right now," he shrugged, but it was obvious that he wasn't happy in the situation.

"Let's get there first," she demanded, and he looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

"I'm not doing that," he stated after a few seconds of silence.

"Why not?" she bit out.

"Because this is your dream. You already screwed over one dream for me, I'm not going to allow you to fuck up another one," he explained bitterly.

"What do you mean?" she blinked, already knowing but feeling her heart dropping again.

"I'll buy your dress, but we're going to have to cut out the limo unless Lane can chip in. I don't have the money for it. I have a few thousand saved away, it's not much, but it's yours… for Yale," he went on.

"No, Jess, you have to go to college," she objected, but was silenced with a look.

"No, Rory. You have to go to college. You, not me. I'm going to reenroll at the high school," he said, and it was obvious what pain this was causing him.

"You can't do that," she pleaded, knowing how much he'd hated this last year.

"You can't stop me," he shrugged, his eyes glued onto the road.

"But… we were going to move in together," she attempted to point out, and she saw a little bit of his anger deflate.

"Some things don't work out," he replied.

"But some things do," she reminded him, grabbing his hand. "Thank you."

"You deserve better than me, but if I'm what you want, then I'm going to make sure you don't have to sacrifice your dreams to get it," he proclaimed, his fingers wrapping around hers on the shift stick.

"You're what I want," she agreed, and she was happy to see the slightest hint of a smirk on his face.

"Glad to hear it," he sighed with a nod, and she saw the last little bit of anger deflate out of his body. Now he just looked tired. The 'Welcome to Stars Hollow' sign flickered past them. Her eyes lingered on it for a few minutes before she turned back to him. Their eyes caught for a second before he had to look back to the road, and in that moment, she really, truly believed that everything was going to work out alright.

"We're meeting your mom and Sookie at Luke's. We need to discuss a few things," he informed her gently as they turned onto Main Street.

"Okay," she agreed, but her mouth was dry and her stomach felt like it had been run through a blender. She really didn't want to have to face them right now.


	7. Chapter 7

Everyone was tense in the room, it was like someone was about to light off the fireworks of the century, and each of them had a match, but no one wanted to light the fuse. Her eyes flickered up to each of the adults in the room. Her mother's eyes were downcast and there were obvious tears running down her face. Luke was by the counter, a few meters away, busying himself with coffee, but his mouth was tight and his eyes looked troubled. A swift glance to her right revealed Sookie, who looked absolutely traumatized by the idea of having to give up the Inn, and even Jackson's attempts at comfort didn't appear to be working. Her last check went to Jess, who was sitting at a table on the opposite side of the diner, staring out the window absently and shredding the pages of a book in his hand.

"I'm sorry," she finally said, breaking the silence.

"Oh Sweetie," Sookie sobbed, putting a hand on her shoulder, but the tears kept falling down her face and she wasn't able to go on.

"Jess?" Rory pleaded, wanting him beside her. His eyes showed recognition, and he turned over to look at her apprehensively. Even across the diner, she could see the frustration this situation was bringing him.

He sighed and got up from the table, moving beside her on the booth and placing her head on his chest and his arms around her body. For some reason, this felt more comforting than if her grandmother would have randomly called and told them that it was all a joke. Just him still being there gave her hope.

"Here," Luke said gruffly, putting down cups for everyone and pouring coffee. Jess declined coffee, requesting tea instead. He claimed that it had something to do with helping people keep their heads.

"So… we're going to sell the inn," Lorelai proclaimed, even though everyone already knew it. Sookie let out another sob, which earned another squeeze from Jackson, and Jess held her tighter against him.

"M-maybe you don't have to," Luke grumbled, which caused everyone to look at him in confusion. "Well… I own the building now, and with Taylor paying rent… I could probably help you pay your tuition."

"You don't have to do that," Lorelai disagreed, shaking her head in denial that he'd even offered it. "We'll figure this out."

"How?" Jess snapped, obviously very angry.

"I don't know. We've figured everything else out before!" she cried, angry about having her denial shoved back into her face.

"Yeah, like putting Rory through Chilton? Great job there," he snarled back at her, and they glared at each other for a few seconds before Jess sat up and took the head of the table. "I think we all need to face the facts. Rory's going to Yale, and we need to get her through it. I have just over two thousand in my savings, Luke can use the rent from Taylor and I can keep helping with my salary and tips. Maybe if Rory gets a part time job and, when she fixes up the inn, Lorelai can use whatever money she gets there to help out."

"You're serious?" Lorelai mocked.

"You've got a better idea?" Jess growled. Rory hugged him closer, feeling him tighten up, which usually meant that he was going to flee.

"The kid has a good idea," Luke attempted to interject.

"No, he doesn't. This is a Gilmore problem, and the Gilmores should be the ones to handle it," Lorelai snapped. Silence took over the diner at this, everyone glaring at everyone else. Lorelai seemed to be getting the most glares right now. She and her pride were causing most of the chaos. None of them noticed the car that pulled up to the diner, but they all turned when the bell rang.

"Grandpa?" Rory questioned, seeing him silhouetted in the dark.

"Rory, Lorelai," he greeted and reached into his jacket. "I heard about the disagreement with Emily, and I would like you to know that I do not agree with her statements, and that I will be willingly to help you in your education."

"What?" Rory deadpanned and squirmed out from Jess's embrace to face her grandfather. Despite it all, Jess still moved behind her and took her hand, so that she wasn't doing this alone.

"I take it that you're the brutish thug?" Richard inquired instead, looking at Jess, who nodded slowly. "I'm sorry that Emily treated you so harshly. I would like to have a meeting with you, in private, to see how much of a 'thug' you are. I will not have my granddaughter dating a hoodlum. But for now, please take this and my apologies." He held out an envelope to Rory, who took it with shaking hands and opened it.

"Thank you," she whispered, tears stinging her eyes. Jess gathered her against him, wrapping his arms around her waist protectively and she placed a hand on top of one of his arms, holding him to her.

"I'll call to make that appointment," Richard spoke again, this time to Jess, and then with a nod, he left.

"Let me see," Lorelai asked after a few minutes. Rory handed her the check and clung to Jess with a watery smile. They kissed gently and he held her against him again. Today had been a roller coaster, one she hadn't enjoyed.

"So we don't have to sell the inn?" Sookie asked hopefully.

"Nope," Rory chirped against Jess's chest and laughed a little bit.

"How much is it?" Luke asked Lorelai, trying to crane his head behind her to see the amount.

"Two hundred thousand," Lorelai sighed, but she didn't seem happy. Rory pulled away from Jess's chest to look at her mother.

"What's wrong?" Rory inquired, pulling on Jess's hand and making him sit down so she could sit on his lap.

"Nothing's free with my grandparents, Rory. Last time it was dinners, now what is it?" Lorelai pointed out, causing a small bout of silence again.

"C'mon, let's get out of here," Jess suggested after a few minutes of silence had gone by.

"Okay," Rory agreed, nodding her head gently. "We'll be back in a bit."

She hopped off his lap and they headed for the door. No one stopped them as they went through the door and out into the night.

"Where to?" she asked, but he didn't say anything. She hadn't really expected him to. They both knew where they were going.

As they stepped onto the bridge, they both hesitated. This was where their first 'date' had been, it was where they'd gone for almost every date afterwards as well. Just sitting here, reading, kissing, or just talking about random things. It brought a smile to her face and she gently pulled him into the center.

"We haven't been here since…" he started and she nodded, knowing what he meant.

"It's weird, the last time I was here, I was a girl," she murmured as they both sat down, her between his legs, being held tight against his body.

"Mhm," he agreed, letting her talk while running his hands through her hair.

"Now I'm a woman, but I still feel like a girl, I mean, I can't even take care of myself. You were willing to give up everything for me… you shouldn't have had to do that," she berated herself, and he stopped his comforting motions.

"Rory, you've given up a lot for me too," he reminded her, gently moving her chin so that she was facing him.

"Like what?" she scoffed, biting back tears and turning away again.

"You gave me the most precious gift any woman can give," he reminded her, turning her around in his arms so that she was facing him and kissed her gently. She didn't have anything to say to that, so they just kept kissing. Her lips were tingling and her body was heating up by the second. His hands crept up her back underneath her shirt and she felt hers creep up his chest. They attached themselves to his jacket and yanked him back, so that he was lying on top of her on the bridge.

"Rory?" he questioned as one of his hands went to brace himself and the other moved from her back to her stomach, moving upwards again.

"Shh," she hushed and kissed him again.

Their bodies took them from there. Two hours later, they were still sitting on the bridge, fully clothed once more, staring out at the water beneath them. His arms were latched around her waist and she was curled up in his lap, legs beneath her and arms wrapped around his on her stomach.

"Are you still going to move out to New Haven with me?" she asked casually.

"Mhm," he agreed, and she fell silent again. The moment was perfect and peaceful. Sighing, she placed her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes.

"Rory," she heard from somewhere far off. It was Jess, he was shaking her softly. Coming out of the inky blackness of her mind took a lot of effort. When she opened her eyes, it was dark enough that she could barely tell water from ground.

"What time is it?" she mumbled against his shoulder and then stared it horror at the wet spot on his shoulder. "I drooled on you!"

"Don't worry about it," he brushed off, holding her closer. "It's about three. I thought that you should probably get home."

"Three, as in three in the morning?" Rory repeated shrilly and climbed off him.

"Yup," he sighed, standing up slower after her.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" she asked, kissing him again. He pulled her against him and his hand wrapped around her again. She gave into it for a few minutes before remembering that she was very, very late.

"You better," he said as they pulled away and she smiled at him.

"Bye," she said softly, biting her lip and gazing up at him.

"Bye," he returned and kissed her again. Despite their finishing words, neither of them moved away. She placed her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

"It'll be nice when we don't have to do this anymore," she admitted softly.

"Next year," he reminded her, and then pushed her away gently. "You're late."

"Right," she grumbled and smiled tightly at him. "Bye, Jess."

"Bye, Rory," he said again, and turned to leave first, because otherwise they'd be stuck there all night.

Rory was torn between chasing him again or going home. It was a very difficult choice. Despite her best efforts, she knew that she was completely in love with him, and that there was absolutely no cure for it. Somewhere inside her was fear that he was going to hurt her, but for the most part, she trusted him. When he was finally out of her eyesight, she turned around and headed the opposite direction, towards her house.

Sneaking in was easy, just a hop through the window. Unfortunately, when she turned around, the light was turned on and her mother was sitting on her bed, glaring at her.

"Hello daughter of mine," she said tightly, and Rory shuffled.

"Mom, I can explain," Rory started, but was cut off.

"You don't need to. Your clothes do all the talking," Lorelai sighed, and looked down at the bed. "Were you careful this time?"

"I'm on the pill," Rory reminded her, but knew that wasn't going to be enough for her mother. For the second time, they hadn't used protection.

"Rory," Lorelai said, but the word was enough for her to know that her mother wasn't impressed.

"I'm not going to get pregnant," Rory muttered in response, going over to her dresser to pull out some clothes.

"You 'have' to be careful, Rory!" Lorelai repeated for the millionth time.

"I know!" Rory shouted back, shocking them both.

"You need to think about things," Lorelai said again, standing up and following her around the room. "You're going to Yale, Rory! You're going to make something of yourself. You don't need Jess and a baby-Jess holding you back!"

"He's not going to hold me back!" Rory returned, attempting to ignore her mother and pulling on her pajamas.

"I have tried, so hard, to be supportive of this relationship. I know that you care for him-," Lorelai started.

"I love him," Rory snapped, looking up at her mother with a glare. "And he loves me."

"How do you know?" Lorelai asked in frustration, putting her hands on her hips and returning the glare.

"I know," Rory returned angrily, slipping into her bed and pulling her covers to her chin.

"That didn't answer the question," her mother pointed out.

"He was willing to give me every cent he owned, work two jobs and go to school, just to help me pay for Yale. We're moving in together next year, which means he's giving up 'everything' he knows just to be with me. He'll have to quit both his jobs and everything. I mean, he's even taking me to prom at a school he was expelled from. Doesn't that mean anything?" Rory finished, looking up at her mother with hope written in her eyes.

"No, because all that you've proven is that he's failed and that he's only now attempting to make himself better, and that just says that he's guilty," Lorelai countered.

"Mom, I'm tired, please leave," Rory said after a few seconds of glaring. She felt tears sting her eyes and flinched when they rolled down her cheeks.

"Rory-," she attempted to start again.

"Get out, please, mom, I can't talk to you right now," Rory cried, shifting on her bed and curling up into a little ball. As the door to her room closed, she finally let the sobbing begin, wishing that Jess was there in that moment to comfort her. But he'd be there tomorrow, and the day after that. He'd always be there, she trusted him. He loved her… didn't he?


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hey all, just as a reminder. I can't reply to reviews right now, and I also can't recieve PMs etc. I hope you enjoy this chapter. It's pretty much fluff with a dark patch.**

"Hey," Rory heard from behind her in the bookstore. She was currently talking to Andrew, attempting to get him to order in a bunch of books on the list she handed to him.

"Hey," she greeted, turning around and grinning at Jess. He kissed her solidly, pulling her against him and pressing them against a wall. Her arms latched around his shoulders. Getting caught up in the moment, she totally forgot that they were in a very public place.

A cough from behind them finally broke them apart. Rory blushed a little bit and smiled as she stared into Jess's eyes. "Hi," he said softly, running hand down her face.

"Hi," she replied shyly. Then, as though snapping out of her daze, she hit him playfully on the chest and stepped away from him. "What was that about?"

"Am I not allowed to kiss you?" he inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey," she objected to the low blow and grabbed onto his jacket, pulling her towards him so that they could kiss again.

"Uh… Rory," Andrew interjected awkwardly.

"Oh, right, bookstore, public," she berated herself under her breath, the blush creeping up her face and turning it red.

"To the bridge?" Jess suggested, and she nodded, suspicious as to his cheerful attitude.

On the way, he said nothing, just swung her and between them while smirking slightly. She glared at him, her suspicions rising with every passing second. When they arrived, she pulled him to a stop in the center of the bridge and made him face her.

"Alright, what's going on," she demanded.

"What do you mean?" he asked her in mock-seriousness, but the grin never abated.

"What did you do?" she prodded. That was the same smile he'd had when he pulled that prank at Doose's market.

"Nothing at all," he told her, holding up two tickets. She stared at them and then her eyes grew wide.

"To the prom?" she gasped, stealing them from his grasp and jumping a little bit.

"Your 'date' will pick you up at six, I'm going to meet you there," he explained, and then reached into his other pocket.

"What's that?" she frowned, seeing another pair of tickets. When she saw them, she dropped both sets in shock. After a few seconds of confusion, she turned to him. "Huh?"

"I don't want your grandmother to be pissed at you because of me," he shrugged as he picked up both tickets again.

"So… you're going to come with me to…?" she attempted to clarify.

"If you want me to," he replied, seeming to get more guarded by the second.

"Jess…" she began, but couldn't finish. Instead, she just kissed him, crumpling the tickets between them. "I love you."

"You better… you have no idea how hard it was to explain to your grandmother why I wanted these," he grumbled, motioning to the second set of tickets.

"You went to my grandmother… wait, you 'talked' to my grandmother?" she attempted to clarify, shocked to pieces.

"Yup," he admitted, his eyes showing his displeasure with the very idea.

"And when in the past two weeks was this?" she stumbled, unbelieving on how good she had it.

"I kept calling her every day since the fight. She caved a week ago, I got the tickets this morning," he listed off for her. With his words, her heart fluttered rapidly. He'd dealt with Satan herself to get these tickets for her.

"But Chilton?" she questioned, holding up his hand with the tickets.

"Chilton prom… I figured that it would help you with your mom too," he muttered, and she could see how hard this must be for him to say. He did have an image to uphold, after all.

"My mom?" Rory asked hesitantly. She and her mother hadn't spoken a full sentence to each other since that day of the failed diner. It seemed as though neither wanted to talk about what happened. Avoiding her hadn't been that hard. With Luke going to Nicole's all the time, they were almost always sleeping above the diner together and opening in the morning. She'd leave before Luke got home, but he knew she'd been there. He seemed to have "Rory Radar".

"Yeah… you'll need a second dress," he explained with a little nudge.

"Thank you," she finally said, absolutely stunned.

"You deserve it," he deflected, pulling her to him and kissing her again. Her hands laced in his hair and she pulled him down to the bridge with her.

-gGg-

"Hi," Lorelai mumbled when Rory walked into the house.

"I'm going to prom!" Rory gushed, forgetting about their argument.

"So you've said," Lorelai snapped, not liking the whole 'going with Jess to prom' thing.

"I'm going to two proms!" Rory clarified, and then remembered the argument.

"Huh?" Lorelai asked, blinking at her daughter in confusion.

"I need another dress!" Rory panicked, and then looked down at the tickets. The two proms were two weeks apart. The first was next week. Panicking worse now, she looked up at her mother with wide eyes. "I need another dress!"

"Wait… two proms?" Lorelai demanded as she followed Rory into her room.

"Can you make a second one for me?" Rory asked, not even realizing her mother was talking to her.

"Stop, Rory, stop. Sit down," Lorelai instructed, grabbing her daughter and seating her firmly on the bed and then sat beside her. "Okay… two proms?"

"Stars Hollow and Chilton," Rory answered instantly, used to this type of interrogation. Normally it was her giving it, though.

"With…?" Lorelai trailed off, but she already knew the answer to this question.

"Jess," Rory replied, daring her mother to say anything about it.

"How?" Lorelai continued, obviously stunned.

"Grandma," Rory informed her, and she seemed to get incredibly tense.

"So… they're collaborating now," Lorelai grumbled nastily.

"No… he just tried to talk to her so that we weren't fighting anymore. We're going to Friday night dinner again," Rory said softly.

"You and Jess?" Lorelai deadpanned. "Alone, again?"

"Yup," Rory agreed, knowing how stupid that sounded.

"I guess you two really must like pain," Lorelai quipped, frowning in confusion.

"I wasn't the one who called her," Rory shrugged, looking anywhere but her mother.

"Jess arranged all this?" Lorelai asked, her confusion turning to shock and then to numbness. Rory watched the expressions pass her face. She could label them all.

"Yup," Rory agreed again, nodding slightly and eyeing her mother carefully.

"Wow," Lorelai whispered under her breath.

"Believe in him yet?" Rory taunted.

"Never," Lorelai objected, shaking her head.

"He's good, mom… he loves me," Rory sighed, turning away.

"Fine… I'll at least give him that. Only someone who's suicidal or blindly in love could risk the Emily Gilmore slaughter three times… willingly," Lorelai appeased guiltily.

"Do you still hate him?" Rory inquired after they were both silent for a few minutes, thinking about what it would mean that Jess actually loved her.

"I don't know," Lorelai replied honestly.

"Give him another chance," Rory pleaded again.

"Last time I 'gave him a chance', you lost your virginity," Lorelai grumbled.

"I told you it might happen," Rory countered.

"You also said that you'd tell me 'before', and you didn't even come home that night! What the hell was I supposed to think?" Lorelai growled at her, standing up. Rory stood up with her, determined to defend her relationship.

"I thought that you'd accept that I did it and would at least attempt to be civil!" she screamed back.

"I would have if you would have called me first!" Lorelai yelled right back.

"I was… busy," Rory blushed, attempting to hold her mother's eyes.

"God! How long were you two at it?" Lorelai cringed.

"A couple hours," Rory mumbled under her breath.

"What?" Lorelai requested, having not heard her under her breath.

"Awhile, okay? Can we drop the whole 'Rory lost her virginity' thing?" Rory asked.

"Great, maybe we can pick up the 'Jess' topic, then. Like… how he dropped out of high school?" Lorelai suggested.

"He's going to college," Rory defended.

"He's not going to be your date to prom," Lorelai continued.

"He's still taking me," Rory shot back.

"He talked to my mother," Lorelai spat, like this was the most disgusting thing yet.

"Yeah… that's kinda weird," Rory agreed, her nose curling in mock-disgust.

"So… is he going to be a permanent feature?" Lorelai sighed, sitting down on the bed again.

"Yup," Rory agreed, sitting down beside her and leaning her head on her shoulder.

"And you won't get pregnant?" Lorelai grumbled.

"Nope," Rory replied. "But…"

"No, no 'buts'," Lorelai jumped, staring at her in horror.

"Some day," Rory teased.

"Are you that serious?" Lorelai asked with wide eyes.

"Maybe," Rory whispered, feeling a blush spread across her cheeks.

"Be careful," Lorelai urged.

A knock on the door separated them. "Answer it? I'm going to go see what kind of patterns I have," she suggested, turning and leaping up the stairs.

Rory couldn't help but stare at the wall in shock for a few seconds. Standing up on the fourth knock, she started towards the door, expecting Jess. Despite their relations on the bridge an hour ago, they were still going out that evening. But when she opened the door, all she could do was stare at the person standing there. For a second she had no idea what to say and debated slamming the door. They didn't need this right now.

"Hey, baby," he greeted, attempting to pull her into a hug.

"Hey, dad," she returned, hesitantly hugging him back. "What are you doing here?"

"Can't I come visit my daughter?" he asked with a large smile.

"Uh…" Rory attempted, unable to find words.

"Rory?" someone asked from behind her dad. She looked past him to see Jess standing there.

"Oh boy," she whispered to herself and gently pushed past her dad to run to her boyfriend.

"Who's that?" Jess asked, nodding at her dad.

"I could ask the same of you," Chris growled, showing his authority in this situation.

"Whatever," Jess scoffed and grabbed Rory's hand.

"Dad… this is my boyfriend, Jess," Rory explained, and both men seemed to tense up ten notches.

"Boyfriend?" Chris asked tightly.

"Dad?" Rory heard hissed in her ear and she cringed.

"I'm supposed to be going out tonight…" she attempted, looking between them and biting her lip hesitantly.

"Alright, Rory… I can't decide. Do you want the full black leather straps for before or after prom? I mean now that virginity isn't a problem, it's time to try out new things! Ooo! What do you think about ass-chaps?" Lorelai quipped as she came down the stairs, not seeing the scene outside. "Do you think that Jess is into leather? My guess is that it would be a real crowd pleaser with Chilton, y'know with the whole 'dominatrix' - Woah Chris!"

They all sat there and blinked at her. Rory hid her head in Jess's shoulder and he merely placed a hand on her back, comforting her in her time of trial, even though he was smirking. Chris was smoldering with anger, glaring at each and every one of them.

"'Virginity's not a problem'?" he growled.

"Oh boy," Lorelai whispered, going to stand with the couple.

"Mom," Rory groaned.

"What do you mean, 'virginity's not a problem'?" Chris continued raving.

"Oh, come on, Chris… she couldn't stay our baby forever," Lorelai defended, then glared at Jess. "Although…"

"Mom!" Rory snapped, glaring at her in warning.

"Who is this kid?" Chris snapped, pointing at Jess.

"I already told you, he's my boyfriend," Rory explained again.

"Jess Mariano, Luke's nephew," Lorelai supplied.

"Luke… as in diner-man Luke?" Chris attempted to clarify.

"Yup," Lorelai agreed.

"How come I've never heard about you?" Chris demanded of Jess, getting in his face.

"Because we knew you'd do this," Rory burst in, before Jess could say something to make the situation worse. She gently pushed against her father's chest to push him away so that Jess wouldn't burst out.

"This is your fault!" Chris exclaimed at Lorelai, stabbing a finger into her face.

"Why is this always my fault?" Lorelai begged the sky.

"Back off," Jess snarled, stepping out of Rory's protective embrace and standing up for the two women, much to Lorelai's shock.

"Stay out of this," the older man growled, but Jess didn't move. "Get out of my way."

"Why? So that you can make them hate you again?" Jess questioned.

"Jess…" Rory protested, placing a hand on his arm.

"What do you mean 'hate me'?" Chris demanded, shoving a hand into Jess's chest.

"Oh boy, not good," Lorelai interjected, attempting to stand between them as Jess's arm swung back to punch him. "Get him out of here!"

"How could you let that punk do that to her?!" Chris exclaimed, but his voice faded into the distance as Rory pulled Jess further away.

"You're related to that?" Jess asked angrily, glaring over his shoulder.

"Fifty percent," she agreed, cringing at the very, very bad introduction.

"Huh," Jess replied, and turned forward so that he wasn't tripping over his feet.

"I didn't know he'd be there," she explained.

"I figured," he grumbled.

"Mom and I are talking again," Rory offered.

"Figured that too… ass-chaps?" he inquired.

"Don't ask," Rory requested.

"Okay," he smirked, wrapping an arm around your shoulder. "Your dad…"

"Yup," Rory agreed, knowing where this was going.

"That's going to make things interesting," he sighed.

"Nah, he usually leaves pretty quickly," Rory assured him.

"I'm glad my dad just stays the hell away. I've never met him," he shrugged.

"Do you know his name?" she inquired.

"Mom said it was Jimmy Mariano, but who knows?" Jess shrugged, and opened the door to the diner for her.

"Why, aren't we the gentleman?" she teased as she stepped past him and kissed him softly.

"Not in the diner!" Luke objected absently as he rushed between tables.

"We're just going up," Jess explained.

"Helping her with her homework again?" Luke deadpanned as he watched them.

"Yeah, biology," Jess quipped back, gaining the attention of everyone in the diner. A few of them even laughed at them. For one moment, her eyes were attracted to some guy sitting in the corner. He'd been there for a few weeks now, just sitting there reading and drinking coffee.

"Do you know that guy?" she asked, tugging on Jess's hand and slowing him down for a minute.

"The coffee-loser?" Jess supplied with a shrug.

"I'll take that as a no," she laughed and ran past him on the stairs.

"Hey!" he objected, and gave chase. She ran through the door and slammed it in his face, then hid in Luke's portion of the apartment. When he came in, he looked around carefully. He shook his head and sauntered through a few places, before looking directly at her. "Huh… I wonder where she could be."

After this statement, he tackled her on her attempted get away and took them both down to the ground. She slithered out of his grasp, losing her jacket on the way and ran to his side of the apartment.

"Stop running!" he reprimanded and took off after her again.

"Stop chasing!" she retorted, dodging another tackle attempt which caused him to go flying over his bed. His hair appeared over the mattress first, mussed and ruined, and then his brown eyes, which were glaring daggers at her. She raised an eyebrow in challenge.

"Where did you learn to do that?" he asked playfully.

"Oh… y'know, dodging Dean," she countered, and his eyes widened.

"My, my, aren't we frisky," he replied and managed to catch her as she was going to take off again. Their combined momentum took them both onto the bed. Their lips connected instantly and she pulled herself farther back on the bed, dragging him with her. Her legs spread to allow him in between them and she couldn't help but laugh when she lost her breath.

"I had to make you work for your play," she provided and kissed him again.

"Yeah?" he asked with a raised eyebrow and a small smirk.

"Oh yeah," she agreed, her fingers lacing through his hair as they kissed again. Just as one of his hands had undone her pants and was blissfully about to start his annoying teasing, the door to the apartment burst open and they fell off the bed in an attempt to cover themselves.

"What are you-," but that was as far as Luke got before he realized precisely what they were doing. "Oh jeez!"

"Jesus, it's called knocking!" Jess shouted angrily as he launched himself over the bed. Rory watched them with a large grin on her face as they did their chest puffing war.

"Use a sock!" Luke roared in return.

"I thought that 'there are to be no socks in his apartment'?" Jess quoted.

"I amend my rule… get a sock," Luke cringed, some of the anger deflating as he stormed back down to the diner.

"Wow," Rory gasped, biting her lip to keep from laughing.

"That wasn't funny," Jess told her firmly, glaring at her.

"Sure," she said sarcastically and burst out laughing. "A sock?"

"Give me yours," he requested, a smirk firm on his face.

"What? I'm not giving you my sock! They're my favorite socks!" she objected, pulling her feet underneath her as he gained ground on her. Another tackle later and a heavy amount of tickling, he'd gotten one of her socks and had it placed on the door. The entire sock was an elephant… definitely an interesting sight for anyone coming upstairs.

"As we were?" he suggested, and she grabbed onto his jacket. She pushed it over his shoulders and he shrugged it off, capturing her in his arms and kissing her again. Just as they fell back onto the bed, the door slammed open again.

"Jesus!" Jess yelled, about to turn around and give whoever hell, but hesitated when he saw Rory's dad.

"Oh boy," Rory whispered for the millionth time that day.

"Sorry," Lorelai chimed in awkwardly from behind Christopher.


	9. Chapter 9

"What are you doing here?" Rory shrieked after a few minutes of silence. No one really knew what to do after Chris's awkward burst in.

"Taking you out of here," Chris stated, pointing at the door.

"No," Rory, Jess and Lorelai all said at the same time.

"What?" Rory and Jess asked of Lorelai, not really expecting her to support them.

"She could have done worse," Lorelai finally shrugged, earning a dirty look from everyone in the room. "What?"

"How can you let her do this?" Chris asked for the billionth time that day, pointing from Rory to Jess.

"It's her choice to make," Lorelai explained with a shrug.

"Isn't this the same Jess who broke her arm?" Chris raved.

"Jeez," Jess muttered, turning away and marching into his room where he picked up his jacket and dug around in the pockets.

"Not now," Rory barked, and he glared at her.

"What?" Chris asked, not liking the interaction at the moment.

"Nothing," Jess muttered, slipping something out of his pocket and into his pants. "Do I need to be here?"

"Hell yes you do!" Chris shouted at him, getting into Jess's face.

"Dad, don't!" Rory attempted to object, but it was too late, Jess shoved him back.

"Stay away from me!" Jess told him angrily.

"Stay away from my daughter!" Chris shot back, shoving Jess against his dresser. Jess's jaw tightened and he was about to go at it with her father when he saw her over the man's shoulder. She watched him hesitate and then deflate a little bit.

"Not even if she told me to," Jess finally got out, glaring daggers at Chris.

"Okiday… let's break this up," Lorelai broke in, gently shoving Chris away from Jess and then giving Jess a glare over her shoulder. Rory rushed to his side, grabbing his hand lightly in her own and looking up at him to make sure he wasn't about to launch himself at her father.

There was a very awkward moment again, where the two sides of the fight seemed to be testing each other. Primarily she and her mother were just damage control, which basically meant that they were praying that neither of them killed each other before they could call Luke to come help. The yelling had made a bad situation worse, and Rory wasn't looking forward to watching Jess fight for her honor, or lack there of, with her father.

"What's going on up here?" Luke demanded gruffly as the apartment door opened. He took one look at all the occupants in the room and sighed. "Oh."

"Yeah…" Lorelai trailed off, and the awkwardness persisted.

"I want to know what's going on," Chris finally muttered, seeming to have gotten rid of at least some of the anger that had been coursing through his veins.

"Good luck," Luke told him, snickering a little bit and leaving the apartment. He hesitated, placing a hand on the doorframe and looked back at Jess. "I need you downstairs. Your break ended a long time ago."

"Got it," Jess said with a shrug. He kissed Rory lightly and took to the stairs, leaving her alone with her mother and father.

"Sit down," Lorelai instructed, and both Rory and Chris sat down seconds later.

"Who's Jess?" Chris asked, wanting to get down to the point of the matter.

"Jess is my boyfriend," Rory answered calmly.

"He's from New York," Lorelai added on.

"Why's he here?" Chris questioned, pondering why any sane person would give up New York for Stars Hollow.

"He was sent here by his mother because she couldn't take care of him," Lorelai offered. "Had a rough life… he's trying to restart here."

"When did the 'virginity's not a problem' happen?" Chris sighed, bringing up the big question.

"Awhile ago," Rory said with a small shrug, and looked to her mother for support.

"It happened, Chris… that's all that matters," Lorelai added on.

"It happened," Chris repeated, shaking his head a little bit.

"It happened," Rory nodded, and they sat awkwardly for a few more minutes.

"Wow," Chris finally stated, placing his head in his hands. "I'm sorry I wasn't here for the initial freak-out."

"Who said there was a freak-out?" Lorelai objected defensively, and the other two occupants of the room looked at her like she was crazy. "Fine… there was a freak out."

"Why are you here?" Rory asked, looking at her father pointedly.

"Sherry said she needed a break. She took Gigi with her," Chris admitted, placing his head in his hands.

"Oh…" Rory sighed, looking down at the carpeting and wondering how this could possibly get any worse. "I'm going to go get some coffee."

"Bring some back for us?" Lorelai piped up, and Rory saw that her mother looked grateful for the time alone with her father.

"Of course," Rory responded, like she was completely crazy, but they all knew that she probably wouldn't be back up to the apartment until the two adults came down.

"Hey," Jess greeted as she brushed through the curtain.

"Hey," she returned, but her smile was tight. "When are you off?"

"Do you need him?" Luke muttered, watching them carefully.

"I just… well, I need to talk," Rory sighed, and Jess moved closer to her. It was remarkable how he seemed to understand her well enough to know when she wanted him to be there and when she didn't.

"Go," Luke shooed. The diner was basically empty, which probably meant that Luke asking Jess downstairs was a distraction method, which was probably a good thing.

"Let's go," Jess suggested, taking her hand lightly. As they were about the leave, the 'Coffee-Loser' stood up and dashed out of the diner. They both hesitated for a second, and Rory glanced at the table.

"Hey, he forgot his wallet," she said lightly, and picked it up.

"Who is he?" Jess inquired, and she heard the slightest hint of real curiosity in his tone. Apparently the man had been irking on her boyfriend's nerves.

"Uh… oh," Rory read the name and the wallet seemed to go out of focus.

"What?" Luke asked, ambling over to them and looking at the wallet over her shoulder. "Oh."

"What?" Jess grumbled, attempting to grab the wallet. Luke snatched it first, saying nothing else. "What was his name?"

"Jimmy… his name was Jimmy," Rory informed him, looking up at him with a mixture of fear and dread. It wasn't a good mixture, and the fact that Jess's father was here didn't help matters either

"Jimmy," Jess repeated coldly, and looked out the window to search for the strange man.

Luke burst out of the kitchen again and marched over to Jess. "I don't want you to talk to him," he announced plainly.

"I think I have a right to talk to him!" Jess shouted at him, letting go of Rory's hand in favor of having, yet another, chest-poofing war with his uncle.

"Jess… maybe he's right," Rory suggested quietly.

"What?" Jess asked incredulously, staring at her like she'd grown a second head. Rory tried to get her idea to him through her eyes, but he didn't seem to be getting it. Sighing, she took his hand and attempted to yank him to the exit. He tried to pull away, but she didn't let him. Jess was a very stubborn man, but she wouldn't let him get into a war with Luke over this.

"Let's go see him," she told him once they were out of the diner.

"What? How?" Jess exclaimed, shocking a few people who weren't used to seeing the teenager spooked, let alone shouting.

"There's only one motel in Stars Hollow," she reminded him gently, and he nodded agitatedly, obviously not enjoying this moment. "Do you want me to drive?"

"Yeah," he nodded, handing her the keys absently and walking over to his car jerkily. Rory looked from him to Luke, who was glaring daggers at them, but ignored the older man and followed Jess.

"When was the last time you saw him?" Rory asked gently when she started the car.

"I've never seen him," Jess admitted. "He left before I could."

"Oh," she said softly, and decided to leave Jess to his thoughts. He looked troubled, chaotic. Obviously he wasn't enjoying this anymore than anyone else was. She had a feeling that, if Jess had had his way, his father never would have shown up.

"What right does he even have to be here?" Jess snapped after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence.

"We're here… let's ask him," she suggested, motioning to the motel.

"Right," Jess sighed, hopping out of the car and waiting for her. Rory slipped out and fell into step beside him. They went into the manager's office and found out that a Jimmy Mariano was staying on the second level, room twelve. They drifted up the stairs slowly, and to the room even slower. Rory read Jess's fear, his terror at the very idea of meeting this man who'd probably caused an irreparable rift in Jess's life. One that Luke had been trying so desperately to repair.

Not wanting to give him the chance to run, which was probably his intention at the moment, she knocked on the door. At first it appeared that no one would answer, but then a scruffy, sun-tanned man opened the door and looked at them with a mixture of emotions on his face.

"Uh… I forgot my wallet," he started, but was soon cut off by Rory pushing past him into the motel room and Jess following silently.

"Jimmy Mariano?" Rory asked softly once they were inside.

"Yeah," he admitted, nodding his head and closing the door as he turned to look at them. They all stood there staring at each other, and Rory couldn't help but feel amazed at how awkward fathers made things.

"Are you really my father?" Jess broke the silence.

"Yes," Jimmy agreed, and the two men shared a moment.

"Why are you here?" Rory demanded, grabbing Jess's hand tightly in her own.

"I just… I wanted to see what my son had grown into," Jimmy said, looking at Jess apprehensively.

"I'm not your son," Jess spat, but Rory clenched her hand around his tightly, trying to cut him off.

"I know, I know, I haven't been here, but I want to try to get to know you. I wouldn't have been a good father, but I thought that maybe if we could talk, get to know each other a little bit, we might at least be friends," Jimmy suggested, but it was obvious by every jerky, anger driven motion that Jess was currently making that nothing of the sort would be happening for a long, long time.

"You had eighteen years to do that," Jess snapped, jerking his hand out of Rory's in favor of pointing at his father. "Eighteen years and not a single phone call. Eighteen years, and the first time I see you is on a driver's license!"

"I know!" Jimmy shouted back, and Rory was surprised at how small Jimmy looked compared to his son. She couldn't even begin to think of the older man as Jess's father. Luke was his father now… there was no questioning it.

"May I have your phone number?" Rory asked before Jess could shout something back.

"What?" Jimmy and Jess both asked a millisecond out of sync.

"We shouldn't have come here… but I think that I should probably get your phone number," Rory explained numbly, not daring to look at Jess's eyes in fear of what she would see there.

"Oh… right," Jimmy muttered, writing something on a scrap of paper on one of the night tables and handing it to her.

"Thank you," Rory responded politely, placing the paper in her pocket and grabbing Jess's hand again. "Let's go."

Jess said nothing, and jerked his hand out of hers the second they exited the room. He stormed ahead of her and Rory stopped for a second, watching him. She watched as he slammed his way down the stairs, obvious frustration written on every inch of him. There was a moment where he danced around in the alley before he punched a wall. The wall being brick, Rory could imagine that it probably hurt a considerable amount.

"Jess!" she protested, as he raised his arm back to swing again. "Stop!"

"Don't, Rory!" he told her, his eyes dangerous.

"Stop it! Jess, you need to stop," she told him, grabbing his injured hand and cradling it against her body lightly.

"I never wanted to meet him!" Jess pointed out.

"Then don't," she said simply, and led him carefully into the small hall, where the ice machine was. She grabbed a few pieces of ice and held them gently to his hand.

"It doesn't hurt," he told her quietly.

"It will," she shrugged, taking off her jacket so that she could put a bunch of ice within it and hold it against his hand.

"Let's go," he sighed after a few seconds, and she nodded mutely, following him back to the car.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Yeah... this has been a LONG time coming, at least for me. I'm very sorry about how long it's taken me to actually get this out, but I still don't think it's my best work. The next chapter will be a lot better, and besides, it'll have Paris! That makes everything worth it. There's probably another five to ten chapters coming here. I don't think I'm going to be sequelling this one. After all... it's not quite as kooky as some of my other stories. I'll try to finish it within a reasonable time limit.**

Jess's hand hung limply at his side. She couldn't help but want to hold it as they neared the door. It was like an appending apocalypse … yet he was so calm. He'd fractured two of his fingers. They wouldn't be usable for two weeks. Luke was not amused. The only person who didn't seem to mind was Jess himself. It was strange the way that things turned out.

"To the lion's den," Rory muttered under her breath.

"It won't be that bad," he shrugged off, knocking on the door. Her eyes slid over to him and she wished that she could obtain some of his blessed calm. Ever since he'd met his father, it was like nothing was affecting him.

"It's good to see you again Mr. Mariano… and Miss Gilmore, I presume?" asked the maid inside.

"Yes," Jess nodded, leading Rory inside. Something about this interaction was strange. How was it that a maid who was switched at least once a week knew who her boyfriend was?

"Jess," she murmured, wanting an answer, but she was cut short as Emily pranced into the room. Rory watched in horror as her grandmother looked them both over and then looked at Jess specifically. Her eyes were instantly attracted to his hand and there was the slightest tightening to her mouth.

"Good evening," she greeted.

"Good evening, Mrs. Gilmore," Jess nodded, and Rory just sort of shuffled from foot to foot, attempting to be as inconspicuous as possible.

"What happened to your hand?" Emily inquired sharply.

"Uh…" Rory started, but Jess took her hand in his uninjured one and squeezed it, signaling for her to stop.

"There was an incident… with my father," Jess explained hesitantly, but Emily's eyes seemed to widen slightly.

"Your father?" she repeated, and led them into the house. To say that Rory was confused in his moment would be something of a huge understatement. "You mean the one that left you?"

"Jess?" Rory wanted to cut in, but another squeeze told her to keep her mouth shut.

"Yes," Jess confirmed, and Emily's nostrils flared in anger.

"How… inconceivable of him," she barked in anger as she led them into the sitting room, where Richard was waiting.

"Ah… Jess, it's good to see you again," Richard greeted jovially.

"Jess?" Rory attempted again, but he sat her down as a means of telling her to be quiet.

"It's good to see you as well, Mr. Gilmore," Jess nodded.

"Please, Jess, call me Richard," the older man stated with a strange smile.

"Richard?" Rory croaked out, unbelieving of their friendly attitude towards the boyfriend that they had once hated.

"Have either of you read any good books lately?" Richard inquired blandly, shuffling his newspaper and putting it on a side table. This was one of the first times in her life she'd seen her grandfather willingly give up a newspaper without being scolded first.

"Richard, please, let's save this conversation for another time. Jess's father has returned," Emily interjected, eyeing Jess sympathetically.

"Your father?" Richard repeated, appalled.

"Grandma, grandpa… may I talk to Jess for a few minutes, alone?" Rory asked, rising to her feet and dragging Jess with her.

"Of course," Emily agreed, but it was obvious to see that she wasn't amused with their running away.

"Rory," Jess attempted to object, but she marched him into her grandfather's study before he could say anything else.

"How do they know about your father?" she inquired harshly once he closed the doors.

"It was apart of the deal," he replied almost instantly. There was a moment of hesitation, which she didn't like at all.

"Deal?" Rory asked shrilly, glaring at him.

"Yes… " he sighed, but didn't continue.

"What deal?" she bit.

"To get the prom tickets," he continued, dragging a hand through his hair.

"What do you mean? I thought that all you were doing was calling her on the phone!?" Rory shrieked, and Jess backed away, behind her grandfather's desk. He looked down at the surface for a few minutes and then looked back up at her.

"They told me that the only way I was taking you was if I allowed them to get to know me better," he finally admitted.

"So… what? All those times you told me you were busy last week, you were here?" she demanded.

"Not all of them… but mostly, yes," he nodded, shoving his good hand in his pocket and hugging the other one to his stomach.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she felt hot tears sliding down her face.

"Can you see yourself right now?" he pointed out. "What would you have done if I'd have told you that the only way I was allowed to take you to either prom was to suck up to your grandparents enough that they'd swing their influence around for me? You would have told me not to do it. Hell, you probably would have sabotaged me on my way here."

"I don't sabotage," Rory sniffled, looking away.

"You egged my car… I don't know what else you're capable of," he quipped, smirking just slightly.

Rory stared at him open mouthed. "I didn't egg your car!" she objected, but there was a not-so-subtle blush rising on her cheeks.

"Uh huh," he rolled his eyes and walked out from behind the desk, figuring it to be safe. "Rory… can we please just make it through this dinner? We have another three weeks before Stars Hollow prom, and they can get rid of my tickets as easily as I got them."

"How easy was it for you to get them?" she inquired suspiciously.

"I had to go golfing," he cringed, and they both had looks of disgust on their faces.

"Bin' there, done that," Rory grumped.

"Steam room?" he continued, even as he opened the door.

"Oh yeah," she sighed, offering him a small smile as he wrapped his bad hand around her waist and pulled her close.

-gGg-

"I can't believe what you've been through," Rory gaped as they left the house, both of them too tired for words.

"Good," Jess groaned, hanging his good arm over her shoulder and fingering her hair lightly.

"Chilton's prom is next Friday," she reminded him gently as they sauntered into the car.

"Is your mother still on about that leather?" he inquired absently, neither really paying too much attention to what the other was saying.

"Nah, but I found some suspicious looking pants in her sewing room," she continued on the ruse.

"I don't want to know," he shook his head and started the car.

"Good, because I don't want to tell you," she purred, leaning over and kissing his ear gently.

"I'm driving," he objected halfheartedly.

"Then stop," she shrugged. While having to 'behave' themselves all through dinner, Rory had time to ponder what he'd done in the past two weeks. He probably had to jump through every hoop imaginable to get those tickets, which, to her knowledge, included going golfing with her grandfather, being shown to her grandmother's friends, and having to go to some sort of party that was held at the Gilmore Mansion. To her, the instances would have been akin to having her eyes poked out. To him, it must have been like torture. Jess wasn't exactly a social butterfly.

"I can't stop," Jess muttered after a few seconds. She smiled against his throat and her eyes flickered up to his. They were desperately attempting to stay on the road.

"Jess," she groaned against his throat, and she jerked back when he pulled the car to the side of the road, not caring that two lanes of traffic were honking at him. The second that the car stopped, he grabbed her and yanked her into his lap. It was awkward at first, with her being pressed harshly against the shifter and the steering wheel, but she soon found an even ground and was able to curl up in his lap without being pressed against anything else.

His hands seemed to be everywhere at once, but she was used to that. Jess was very good with his hands. Her hands wound in his hair and ran butterfly kisses along the rest of his body, which she knew he loved more than her actually touching him.

"I love you," he moaned against her mouth, and she pulled back, biting her lip a little bit.

"I love you too," she whispered, her voice husky from their kissing. He pulled her back again, but this time it was soft, gentle almost.

"We have to get home," he attempted to convince them both, all the while continuing to run his hands over her back and then lower, to her thighs and gently underneath her skirt. Her breath caught in her throat and home was the farthest thing from her mind.

"No," she objected, shaking her head and crawling into the backseat.

"Rory," Jess said in warning, even as she pulled him with her. She kissed him to shut him up, all the while undoing the buttons on his shirt. "Rory…"

"Shh," she shook her head again and pulled him on top of her so that they were lying in the backseat of the car. They kissed, but she could feel the hesitance in his mouth. His hands were unsure for once, their normal confidence lacking in every movement.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked between kisses.

"Yes," she assured him, and he seemed to hesitate for a moment, before nodding and kissing her again. His hands regained their confidence and pushed beneath her skirt, yanking her panties down her body and tossing them somewhere else in the car.

It occurred to her midway through their act that, truly, she was sitting in the middle of a very public highway with clear windows and hundreds of people were driving past them every minute. Just as she was about to care, she felt her body tense up and her eyes screwed shut. Perhaps it was the very idea of people watching, but whatever it was, everything seemed hyper-aware.

When they were both finished, she curled her fingers into his hair and kissed him gently. Despite feeling like she was going to keel over at any second, she knew that they had to get back to Stars Hollow before her mother started to worry… let alone her father. Chris had decided to make the Gilmore Residence his un-official home until he was able to contact Sherry.

"Hey," Jess whispered against her throat and kissed her gently.

"Hi," she replied shyly, despite the fact that they were still completely naked and he was still inside her. Blushing profusely, she turned to look away and then looked back at him. "We should probably…"

"Yeah," he agreed, pulled away from her. They both let out a small sound of protest, but he kept moving anyway and they went through the ritual of replacing clothing.

As she was about to crawl back into the front seat, he grabbed her arm and pulled her around so that he could kiss her again. She returned the kiss in full force, her eyes clothing and her breathing picking up. She almost yanked him back to the seat again when he gently pushed her forward.

"We have to go home," he reminded her, yet again, and she nodded sullenly. Yet again, home was the farthest thing from her mind.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Yeah... it's been awhile. I hope that people who like my other story are still waiting for this blighter. I'm going to give you a warning right now. I can end this story at this chapter... I mean, I still have a few more places I wouldn't mind taking this, but I don't know how many people are still reading this stuff. Since the end of GG, it seems like everyone's been abandoning the universe. cries Sooooooooo... lemme know. - Bligy**

She was attempting to do her homework… she really, really was. Sure… Jess's hands up her shirt weren't helping and her face being pressed to his definitely wasn't on the pro column, but… she was trying. That counted for something, didn't it?

"Where's your mom?" he asked against her mouth.

"Somewhere else?" Rory offered, unable to think of anything. Ever since the successful dinner at her grandmother's and then the… events that took place after, they'd been unable to keep their hands off each other.

"Huh," he muttered and pulled her against him.

"Rory!" Lorelai called, opening the door. Rory and Jess leapt apart, him hiding his hands behind his back like Lorelai would cut them off and Rory was blushing profusely. Lorelai put a hand to her heart as though to stop it from leaping out of her chest and gaped at them.

"Uh… hi," Rory offered sheepishly while Jess looked away in frustration.

"I'm going to go," Jess muttered, pointing at the open door and rushing past Lorelai, who leapt away from him to give him a wide berth. The room then fell painfully quiet as they waited for someone to talk.

"So…" Rory said nervously, clapping her hands together and staring at her mother.

"Wow… that would have been on my top ten things never to see," Lorelai finally said, shaking her head and blinking as though to get the image out of her head. "Right up there with Kirk's chest."

"Eww… I can't believe you just compared Jess and I to Kirk. Not even Kirk! Kirk's chest!" Rory complained, attempting to lighten the situation.

"Remember that time you caught your dad and I-," Lorelai started.

"Point taken, moving on," Rory breathed a sigh of relief. Chris had been staying with them for the past week. It was causing a mixture of emotions within her, although anger was at the top. Ever since they'd gotten together, Luke had been in a fuming bad mood, even going so far as to kick them out of the diner more than once when her parents kissed. Sighing, she looked down at the ground as though to calculate what she should say, and then looked back up at her mother weakly. "What's up?"

"Besides Jess's hands?" Lorelai quipped, and both women rolled their eyes at the lame joke. "Your Stars Hollow-dress needs to be tried on."

"You're working fast," Rory commented, obviously pleased.

"Hey, it's not every day my daughter gets to go to the prom with the town's badass who she also happens to be having sex with… in her mother's house," Lorelai muttered, and then nudged her daughter towards the stairs. "Up! Go up!"

"I'm going!" Rory objected to the shoving and dashed up the stairs to the spare bedroom where the large mounds of material that was being turned into her dress was lying. "And we've never… had… I mean, done that in the house."

"You haven't?" Lorelai demanded suspiciously.

"No!" Rory objected loudly, walking over to the mannequin and checking out what her mother had already finished. It was lovely… beyond lovely, it was gorgeous. Jess was going to trip over himself, and that was precisely what her mother was going for.

"It's not leather, but…" Lorelai fished.

"It's beautiful… I thought it was going to be white?" Rory pointed out, gently running her hand down the material.

"It was… until I realized that white was for virgins, and seeing as how you're not a virgin anymore, I thought something a little bit darker," Lorelai chirped, plucking the massive amount of material from the mannequin and shoving Rory behind a curtain they had hung up with it.

"So… where did red come in?" Rory requested as she stripped and stepped into the circle of the dress.

"Well… with the way that you and Jess are always on each other, I thought that seductress worked well," Lorelai informed her with a firm nod.

"Mean," Rory grumped.

"It'll look good on you! We can get you some contact lenses, and vampire teeth, and some of that fake blood!" Lorelai gasped excitedly.

"Shh, I'm coming out," Rory scolded and stepped out from behind the curtain.

"Oh, baby," Lorelai cooed, pulling her towards her and forcing her to look into the mirror.

Rory had to admit the red did look quite good on her. Smiling, she turned a little bit to see a few different angles. The dress was far from finished, it didn't have any of the fastenings on it and some of the material was only pinned on, to check size, but it looked stunning even then.

"Finish it quickly!" Rory gasped, and her mother nodded, just as excited as she was.

"Honey, I'm home!" Chris called from downstairs.

"Hurry, change!" Lorelai told her and shoved her back towards the curtain, where Rory stripped once more and pulled her regular clothes back on.

"Where are you?" Chris requested at a shout.

"We're upstairs, but you can't come upstairs," Lorelai told him, looking desperately at the curtain and waiting for Rory to come out with the dress. It was supposed to be their secret. No one had any idea what it looked like besides them.

"Okay…?" Chris answered.

"I'm done!" Rory squealed, jumping out from behind the curtain and handing her mother the dress.

"Let's go!" Lorelai suggested, and pushed Rory down the stairs.

"Hi, dad!" Rory greeted, hugging him.

"Hey, Sweetie," Chris kissed the top of her head and then turned his attention to her mother.

They kissed for a moment and tried to pull away before starting to kiss some more. Rory rolled her eyes and missed Jess. Shuffling a little bit, she inched towards the doorway.

"Be safe!" Lorelai told her, and Rory couldn't help but gape at her in horror for a moment before blushing profusely and running outside.

-gGg-

The diner was almost empty. Luke was standing behind the counter and Jess was no where to be seen.

"Is he?" she asked, motioning towards the curtain.

"How long?" Luke asked suspiciously, glaring her a little bit.

"Oh my God!" Rory blushed profusely and ran up the stairs, not bothering to answer the question. Why was it that everyone expected her and Jess to have sex every time they were together?

When she opened the door to the apartment and found Jess changing, suddenly she remembered. Freezing, she watched as he did the final touches on his pants and worked to select a t-shirt.

"Don't bother," Rory gasped, and he turned quickly to see her. A look of confusion passed over his face for a moment as she launched herself at him, kissing him firmly.

"Hmph," Jess muttered, but didn't question. He just pulled her towards him firmly and she ran her hands along his bare chest, her fingers seeming to be on fire.

A little more than an hour later, they were both lying naked on his bed, curled up in each other's arms and breathing heavily.

"Read anything good lately?" Rory asked breathlessly.

"I've been a bit distracted," he told her, running hand gently down her side.

"Hmm," Rory mumbled, leaning her head against his shoulder and closing her eyes.

-gGg-

Rory stepped into the house, trying to be as quiet as possible. It was past midnight, they'd fallen asleep. She would have gone through her window, but there was a decent chance her mother was sitting in her room waiting, and if that was the case, she wanted to greet her through the door, standing straight, rather than a mangled mess on the floor.

"Were you safe?" Lorelai asked from the kitchen. It was obvious that she was attempting to keep the situation light, humorous, but Rory could hear that the emotions behind the façade were anything but cheerful.

"I'm not going to get pregnant," Rory sighed, walking over to her mother and sitting down at the table beside her.

"So you didn't use a condom… again," Lorelai shook her head, smiling bitterly.

"He doesn't like the feel of them… I don't either," Rory shrugged, blushing a little bit at the discussion.

"That doesn't matter! Get the thin ones then, those funky invisible things that they sell at sex stores, but get some! You can't get pregnant, Rory!" Lorelai whisper-shouted as she glared at her.

"I won't get pregnant. I'm on the pill, remember?" Rory chided, still, she felt a little bit guilty that she was disregarding her mother's words so entirely.

"The pill is not an assured thing," Lorelai harped.

"Yes, because that point zero one percent is so vital," Rory snapped and marched into her room. Her mother followed her, a nervous cloud wringing above her head.

"I just don't want you to be like me, Rory," Lorelai pointed out for the billionth time. Rory froze in her room and turned around to face her.

"Then stop hounding me. Stop following me around, stop warning me to be safe. Let me live my own life," she yelled at first, but calmed down for the rest. She didn't want to get angry at her mother. She just wanted her to understand that, just because Jess was a little bit like Christopher, that didn't mean that they were going to make the same mistakes.

"Okay," Lorelai nodded, obviously hurt.

"Mom…" Rory couldn't think of any way to console her. She felt tears gather in her eyes and she backed into her room, wrapping her arms around her waist. "I love him, he loves me, and we aren't going to screw up."

"I know," Lorelai nodded, and they looked at each other with all their insecurities pouring out into the lights.

"You know? I thought that you were still apart of the 'Jess is evil' club," Rory sniffled, shuffling a little bit.

"Hey… he braved Emily Gilmore. He must love you somewhere in all that hair gel," Lorelai shrugged and they inched towards each other before embracing tightly.

"I don't want him to break us up," Rory informed her mother and they hugged tighter.

"He won't. No man can break up the Gilmore girls," Lorelai assured her, running a hand through her hair. "So… Chilton prom this Saturday, do you want me to make your pretty?"

"I thought I already was pretty?" Rory quipped, giving her mother hurt-eyes.

"Of course you are," Lorelai rolled her eyes. "But I could make you more pretty!"

"Sure," Rory agreed with a firm nod, whipping the tears out of her eyes and looking longingly at her bed.

"It's late," Lorelai pointed out.

"Yes it is," Rory agreed and inched into her room.

"Try not to stay out too late next time, and if you do? Just make sure you have a lot of details to scare me with the next morning," Lorelai yawned, hugging her again and letting her go.

"When you say morning…?" Rory trailed off.

"You waking me up in the middle of the night is doing nothing for my beauty sleep," Lorelai agreed in a roundabout way. This earned a rather large grin from Rory.

"And the apartment…?" Rory pressed, feeling that she was on a roll.

"Give me a few more weeks," Lorelai's smile turned tight and her eyes were mocking.

"Weeks? But Jess and I were going to move in next week," Rory joked, but Lorelai's eyes still widened.

"Evil child," she scolded and turned around to march back up to her room.

"I love you!" Rory called after her and turned around to march back into her room.

While she was getting dressed, the window popped open, scaring her. She turned around with her clothes pressed tightly against her chest and watched as Jess stumbled in. He was panting a little bit, like he'd ran to get there.

"Umm… we have a door," she reminded him.

"Your mom's awake," he shook his head and moved closer to her. There were no more words as he kissed her and she kissed him in return. Somewhere inside her something told her to be careful, that they were going to burn themselves out, but she threw that voice away. Her body was burning for him, even after they' spent the day together. As Jess moved her back to her bed, she stopped him, remembering her conversation with her mother.

"Not here," she protested, pushing gently on his chest to move him away.

"Then come on," he pulled her towards the window.

"Is Luke home?" she asked, yanking on a random t-shirt and following him as he hopped outside.

"Yeah," he nodded and continued leading her somewhere.

"Then where are we going?" she whispered, not wanting to wake up Babette. He didn't answer her, merely yanked her into his car, which was sitting a block from her house, and sped away to… somewhere.

"Jess?" she asked, but he just smirked at her with a glint in his eyes. She glared at him, but he ignored her. "Jess?"

"Shh," he scolded.

"Where are we going?" she asked, seeing a sign that advertised New Haven.

"Shh," he said again, the smirk never leaving his face as he moved through the streets and finally stopped at an almost-run-down looking apartment.

"Where are we?" she demanded as he opened her door for her and pulled her towards the front doors.

"Here," he evaded and opened the door.

"How did you get the keys?" she continued, but there was a large ball in her stomach that told her she knew exactly how he got them.

"Someone gave them to me," he brushed off again and led her up two stories of stairs. She wasn't very good at stairs and they had to hesitate a second on the landing so she could catch her breath.

"Who… who gave… them… to… you," she gasped out.

"A humanoid creature," he shrugged, pulling her the last few paces to an apartment. He placed another key into the door and shoved it open with his shoulder, leading her inside.

The room that it was opened to was sparsely furnished. There was a couch, a chair, a coffee table and a ratty looking television mounted on a cabinet that was filled with different movies. She stepped inside a little bit and looked to her left, where a little kitchenette contained the basics, a stove, microwave, fridge and toaster. She walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. It contained bread, milk, some cheese and a few other odds and ends that were required for basic living.

"Jess?" she asked, but he shushed her again and grabbed her hand, pulling her towards one of two doors in the apartment. He opened it and hesitated at the door as she entered.

It was a bedroom with a queen bed. There was a wall that was absolutely drenched in Yale paraphernalia and another that was plastered with different band posters. She drifted into the closet and saw that it was filled with a mixture of their clothes. Her heart fled into her throat and she turned around to face him with a small sound. She couldn't find words.

"Do you like it?" he asked insecurely.

Without another word, she pulled him towards her, kissing him passionately. "When did you move all this stuff?" she requested, noticing that quite a bit of the Yale things were from her own wall… she hadn't noticed that they were missing.

"When you fell asleep," he admitted guiltily. "I went to your house and hauled it all here. Somehow I made it back to Luke's before you woke up."

"Why didn't you wake me up?" she mock-scolded with a glare.

"Because surprising you is fun," he informed her with bright eyes and kissed her firmly. She didn't say anything else, merely yanked him to her and tugged him backwards until her knees hit the bed and she fell back with him on top of her. She pulled him with her as they scuttled back onto the bed, and she honestly couldn't have thought of a more perfect way for the rest of their lives to begin.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: I don't know if I'm continuing this story or if this was a random burst of creative energy out to torture us all. In any case, here's another chapter, just to use another character that I haven't had the chance to disgrace yet.**

"Rory, do you have your flower?" Lorelai shouted from somewhere in the catacombs of the house.

"No, I do!" Chris announced from somewhere else.

"Can someone bring me my rose?" Rory belted, standing in the middle of her room in her dress with her hair in ringlets, hanging around her face, with eye smothered in blue eye shadow and the other lined with charcoal. Her mother had stopped their session in favor of getting her flower to make sure that the shades were 'mixable'. Unfortunately, this had lead to finding out that her flower was misplaced and that had dispersed the entire household into a panic to find the flower, with a five dollar prize to whoever found it.

"When is Jess getting here?" Chris asked and him and Lorelai crashed into each other on the way into the room.

"Uh… anytime now!" Rory chirped, although it was tight and nervous. Her hair wasn't done, only one of her eyes was finished, and Jess was going to be there any second to take her to a prom she didn't want to go to so she could see people she'd rather ditch than ever be in the presence of again.

"Okay," Lorelai took a deep breath, and then made motions for everyone to do the same thing. With obvious annoyance, both other occupants followed in her steps and then waited for the make-up/hair-stylist to continue.

"Do you need anything?" Chris asked, probably not anxious to watch another make-up session.

"Uh… black bobby-pins from the kitchen," Lorelai instructed while carefully applying blue eye-shadow to her other eye, turning them both into deep pools.

Another five minutes, and the eye was done, leaving just the finishing touches no her hair. Rory waited patiently while the curls were yanked this way and that, finally leaving her hair in a cascading mess that her mother was ever so good at creating.

"Perfection," Lorelai cooed, hugging Rory tightly.

"Agreed," Chris said meekly from the door, even though he'd done little to nothing.

"Rory?" Jess asked from the door, causing the women in the room to screech slightly.

"Pictures!" Lorelai howled, causing both teenagers to groan in unison, despite being in different rooms.

Giving her mother a nasty look, Rory dashed out of the room and straight for Jess, who caught her around the waist, a look of awe on his face.

"Wow," he said, fingering the edge of the material on her waist as she did the same to his navy blue vest.

"You look good in blue," she complimented professionally.

"You look beautiful," he complimented and then kissed her softly, but was interrupted by a flash of light.

"Mom," Rory whined, but the smile on her face showed that she was still happy to be doing this.

"Nice tux," Chris nodded and Jess nodded back, the stern looks on their faces meant it was a guy moment and not something to be taken lightly.

"He's not going to kill me," Rory scolded lightly, kissing Jess's cheek, which caused another flash and another series of dirty looks.

"May as well just let me get this over and done with," Lorelai hinted, waving her camera around.

After a shared look of distaste, they allowed Lorelai to take her pictures, and then let her coo and compliment and do other disgusting implements of motherly affection. Finally, they were allowed to leave the house, which resulted in another series of flashes.

"Oh, you look lovely, suga!" Babette shouted from the crowd, with a tear rolling down her cheek. She then turned to Mrs. Patty and stated: "She looks so grown up!"

"Yeah, she does," Patty agreed. "Stand up straight, I wanna get some good shots!"

After another hour of pictures, this had been calculated into the itinerary to allow for them to get to the prom on time.

"The limo's here," Jess sighed, placing his head in her shoulder, which resulted in more flashing cameras.

"Thank God," Rory moaned and grabbed his hand, running through the crowd and towards the black stretch limo that had been ordered by her grandparents. They slid into the back and he instantly pulled her towards him, kissing her soundly.

"Stop," Rory objected, pulling him closer.

"Why?" he requested as his hands started playing with the open back of her dress, tickling her spine and causing her skin to ripple and goose bumps to break out.

"Because, people and make up and hair and… prom and dress and Chilton," she attempted between kisses, slowly moving her hands up to mess up his hair.

"Nope," he scolded, grabbing her hands and taking them down from her hair.

"So you can ruin my hair, but I can't ruin yours?" she pouted.

"I haven't touched your hair," he reminded her, his eyes flickering up to the hairdo. "Besides… I somehow doubt I could ruin your hair… it's kinda…"

"My mother's design," she sighed.

"Ah," he nodded, noticing the similarities.

Silence overtook the limo for a moment as their hands slowly made their way back towards each other, fingers curling in and out of each other, rubbing and squirming. "God this is annoying," she sighed.

"What, being in a position where we can't just rip each other's clothes off?" he hinted, pulling her closer and kissing her neck.

"Mhm," she agreed, and one of her hands stealthily made its way down his body and towards more sensitive places.

"Not fair," he hissed, biting just under her ear.

"Also not fair," she countered.

"We have twenty minutes," he suggested.

"And when we get out we have another half an hour of photographs with my parents," she sighed.

"Which means 'no'," he echoed her sigh and they continued to stare at each other longingly.

"This stinks," Rory huffed.

"Yup," Jess hung his head, his eyes shifting over to her again.

"Think they'd notice?" Rory suggested awkwardly.

"I think they would," Jess said after a couple seconds of serious contemplation.

"This sucks," Rory stated again.

"Yes," Jess nodded, heaving a sigh and moving to the other side of the limo, where he promptly began staring out at the passing streets.

"You suck," Rory pouted. He didn't say anything, in fact, the only notification that she got that he was listening to her was a slight smirk on his face.

"Besides… it's not as though we have to stay the entire time," Jess stated carefully, his eyes very firmly locked outside.

"Oh?" Rory asked, her eyebrows popping up at the slight hint that his voice was giving.

"We could always leave a little early," Jess stated, finally looking at her with the smirk firmly in place and his eyes hinting at something devious.

"I think I like that plan," Rory conceded, moving to his side of the limo.

"Me too," he said, pulling her close and kissing her without hesitation.

By the time they got to her grandparents house, Rory was beneath him on the seat, his hands wandering up her skirt mischievously.

"Sir, miss, we're here," the chauffeur stated without any hint of embarrassment when he open the door.

"Huh?" Rory objected, her head tilted back to see him. "Oh!"

They separated like shrapnel, looked at each other awkwardly and crept out of the car.

"Rory!" her grandmother shrieked and ran towards her, hugging her tightly. "Come inside, dear, I have a hair stylist ready."

"Huh?" Rory stated for the second time in as many minutes.

"Well, now, I wasn't expecting your hair to last in that limo, what with the way that your mother does things," Emily ranted, pushing Rory into the sitting room, where a woman was waiting with supplies.

"Thanks?" Rory mumbled, tripping into the room and stumbling towards the chair where the woman was waiting. She eyed Jess, who ambled in after her with questioning eyes, but he merely shrugged, even more awkward than her.

"And you're looking quite handsome," Emily told him, her eyes bright. "I see that Lorelai didn't get her hands on you."

"Uh…" Jess trailed off, speechless at the onslaught. "Thank you…"

"Jess, Rory!" Richard greeted as he hopped down the stairwell, quite enthusiastic. "I'm happy to see that you're both looking quite polished."

"Well, with some help," Emily preened.

"Of course," Richard amended, and then looked at Jess calculatingly.

"I, uh… I sent the other tux back," Jess told him. "It didn't fit properly."

"Nonsense, I had it tailored!" Richard objected, but paced around Jess anyway.

"Yeah… but this one's… well, it belonged to someone in my family…" Jess informed him awkwardly.

"Oh! A family heirloom, it all makes sense!" Emily chirped, grabbing onto Richard's arm and leading him back towards Rory. "Doesn't she look lovely?"

"Yes, she looks like a woman now," Richard nodded, causing Rory to choke a little bit.

"Uh… anyway," Jess broke in to remove the tension from Rory, who was blushing scarlet. "Thank you very much for the tickets… and the limo, and everything, Mr. and Mrs. Gilmore."

"It was no problem, dear," Emily assured him.

"Yes, thank you," Rory agreed from her position in the chair.

"Almost finished, dear," Emily assured her, and rushed over to where another group of people were sitting, this time with cameras of all assortments.

"Uh oh," Rory sighed when she saw the boom mic and the video camera get lifted into action.

"Now," Emily started, turning around to beam at the room. "Rory, Jess, I want you to get back into the limo and get out like you did before, except this time, we're going to film you!"

"Great," Jess groaned under his breath, barely loud enough for Rory to hear.

"Sure," Rory agreed, grabbing Jess's arm in her ascent from the chair and dragging him out to where the limo was still hovering.

"This is worse than Stars Hollow," Jess complained.

"It could be worse," Rory shrugged.

"We're being filmed, we're a reality TV show, tell me, how could it be worse?" Jess pointed out.

"There could be monkeys?" Rory shrugged, earning her a look. "Come on, we knew this was coming."

Jess nodded and slipped into the car with her, which hailed another set of pictures and cameras and pathetic posing and cute positions and water fountains and flashing and professionals doing their 'jobs' before the two of them were finally off to the prom itself.

"That was terrible," Jess proclaimed.

"But at least it's over," Rory poked.

"Because you begged your grandmother not to have them follow us to the prom," Jess reminded her.

"But at least she agreed!" Rory continued to take the positive.

"Yeah," he rolled his eyes and looked at the looming building that was Chilton.

"You'll be fine," she assured him.

"Are those gargoyles?" he asked, gaping at the atrocity of the building.

"You get used to the architecture," she assured him.

"Sure," Jess nodded, clamming up.

"Jess," she sighed, turning his head to her. "I love you, and this is just some stupid party with stupid kids who don't know anything."

"I know," he nodded, but the look in his eyes said everything: he didn't belong here.

They removed themselves from the limo gracefully and made their way into the flow of people wearing custom sewn prom dresses and adorning themselves in their parents jewels and tailored tuxes. Rory could feel the discomfort vibrating off of Jess in waves.

"We can leave…" Rory suggested, but he shook his head.

"I worked hard to get these tickets," he assured her with a tight smirk that looked like it would flee if shown the slightest provocation.

"Do you want to dance?" she suggested awkwardly, but he shook his head negative and continued to stand in a shady corner. "Do you want something to drink?"

"Yeah, I'll go get something," Jess stated with a nod and made his way through the crowd to the drink tables.

Rory watched him go apprehensively. In the past month or two, she hadn't seen this side of Jess very much. Since the party, though it hadn't been all roses and kisses, he hadn't clammed up towards her as badly as he was right now. She felt like they were back to the beginning, and she didn't like the feeling very much.

"Hey Mary!" someone greeted from the crowd, and she wiped the sadness from her eyes in favor of glancing at Tristin, who was making his way towards her.

"Tristin," she said, eyes wide.

"Yeah, someone invited me, dad let me come," he shrugged, looking out at the party. "Same ol' Chilton though."

"Yeah…" Rory drifted off, wondering if the name 'Mary' still applied to those who were no longer virginal.

"I didn't expect to see you here," he told her honestly.

"I didn't expect to see you here," she echoed.

"Do you want to dance?" he asked her suddenly, then didn't wait for her answer and grabbed her hand.

"Tristin," she objected, trying to get her hand out of his.

"Come on, Mary, it's just a dance," Tristin rolled his eyes, and Rory carefully fell into step with him, her eyes darting around to see where Jess was.

She saw him a couple seconds later, standing in the corner, looking awkward, holding two drinks with no one to give them to.

"I have to go," Rory told him, giving him a 'sorry' smile and rushing off to the corner.

"Hey," Rory chirped, staring at his tensed back.

"Hey," he greeted, his eyes caged animals wanting to run.

"Can I?" she asked, motioning at the cups.

"Sure," he handed her one and looked around. "Look… Rory, I'm going to… I have to…"

"Okay," she nodded, a slight amount of tears in her eyes, but the darkness hid them well.

"I'll be back," he assured her, but the flaming insecurity in his eyes told a different story.

Rory hovered in the corner for a minute, looking around awkwardly, before one minute turned into five, and then ten, and she decided that something was wrong.

Making her way out of the ballroom, she heard talking coming from the men's washroom. Grabbing her skirt, she lifted it as she ran towards the noise.

"So what happened to Dean?" she heard the first ask and it didn't take her more than a few seconds to tie that voice with Tristin.

"I don't know," Jess answered, his voice tense and angry.

"So… what are you, permanent, then?" Tristin taunted.

"Why are you asking so many questions?" Jess growled, and it was low enough that she could barely make the words out.

"Because Rory's my friend and I don't want some jackass scum who can't take care of her slowing her down," Tristin said conversationally.

"Right," Jess snapped and the bathroom door opened.

"What? Like you didn't notice, not going to Harvard, setting for the second-choice of Yale?" Tristin continued, and the door to the bathroom closed. Rory almost went and opened it, but hesitated slightly. What if there was someone else in there?

"Rory made that choice so that she could be closer to Stars Hollow," Jess stated.

"Yeah, meaning you. She held back on her dream college so that she could be with a second-rate felon from New York," Tristin jabbed.

"Fuck you," Jess snarled, opening the bathroom door in a huff and tearing out of it, slamming into Rory roughly.

"Jess," she tried to grab his arm to hold him back.

"Whatever," Jess threw her arm off and marched down the hallway in a homicidal huff.

"What the hell did you do that for?" Rory screamed at Tristin, tears prickling her eyes and pouring down her cheeks in hot rivulets.

"Rory, I-," Tristin tried to defend himself, but was cut off when she turned and ran after Jess.


	13. Chapter 13

It took her about ten minutes before she finally found her boyfriend. He was standing on the edge of the road, jacket slung over his shoulder, thumb out, trying to hitch a ride away from Chilton. A car stopped in front of him seconds before she could get there, running in heels, especially after an athletic man in comfy shoes, damn men in their comfortable shoes.

"Jess!" she shouted as she got nearer, but he didn't appear to hear her. "Jess!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, and he hesitated, turning back to look at her as she stood there, her dress lifted to her knees, waiting for him.

"Go back to your party," Jess told her, his voice terribly quiet, crushed and she could feel his very spirit break upon the words.

"Jess," she started, but he slipped into the car. "Wait!" She started running again, but the car took off and she was left standing there, shoeless, without a ride home.

"Rory?" a voice asked from behind her, and she turned to see Paris standing there, looking awkward and out of place in her pink prom dress.

"This isn't… I can't talk to you," Rory announced, not wanting to deal with the crap that had built up between her and everyone else in the past few weeks.

"Are you leaving?" Paris asked in a slight panic.

"Yes," Rory barked, angry and upset, but unwilling to cry.

"Take me with you," Paris requested urgently. "I'm sick, I have a migraine, I'm going to throw up… for God's sake, I have malaria!"

"Why do you want to leave so badly?" Rory asked, not breaking her stride to the limo: her best chance at escape.

"Rory, I'm in a pink dress, at prom," Paris pointed out.

"Yeah… that's kinda weird," Rory agreed, pausing for a minute to glance at Paris, who was following her with that evil look in her eye. "You're going to follow me whether I say yes or not, aren't you?"

"Yes," Paris snapped immediately.

"Okay," Rory rolled her eyes and got into the limo, her eyes gazing outside intently.

"So… why did he leave?" Paris asked after at least five minutes of awkward silence.

"Because Tristin told him to," Rory stated, amending the story a little bit, but still boiling it down to its most simple form.

"Tristin was there?" Paris asked, her voice a little bit hurt.

"Unfortunately," Rory snapped, her eyes showing blatant dislike for the boy.

"Maybe Jess overreacted?" Paris suggested meekly.

"Or maybe Tristin's just an asshole," Rory added with an evil glare, threatening any attempts at arguing contrary.

The cabin fell silent again as both parties sat in waiting. Rory saw the sign that signaled they were entering Stars Hollow and pressed the intercom on the limo. "To Luke's Diner, please," she told him and was answered with an affirmative.

They got there two minutes later and Rory jumped out of the car without hesitation, only to fly into a drunk, staggering man. She would have been knocked over if it wasn't for Paris standing there. They were both knocked into the limo and the drunk guy went sprawling.

"Hey, are you okay?" Paris asked, poking him with her toe like some sort of medieval princess, afraid to touch him.

"I don't have time for-," Rory started, then stopped and looked down at the alcohol ridden creature at her feet. Plaid… baseball hat. "Luke?"

"Hmm?" the man asked, his eyes looking up at her in bloodshot agony.

"Oh my God," Rory gasped and grabbed onto his shoulders, dragging him to his feet and shoving him towards Luke's, where the light was already on upstairs. Drooping slightly under his weight, she was both glad and a bit angry when Paris decided to help her. At least she wasn't poking him with her toe anymore.

"Does he do this a lot?" Paris asked as Rory attempted to reach for the doorknob.

"No, usually he fishes," Rory groaned as she got the doorknob and turned it. Jess had left it unlocked, that meant that he'd probably gone up in such a huff that he'd forgotten about everything else.

"Is he…?" Paris asked, looking towards the curtain.

"Probably," Rory agreed, sitting Luke in one of the booths. "I'm… going to go check on him, can you stay with Luke?"

"With drunk diner-guy?" Paris said, her nose shriveling a little bit in disgust. "Sure."

"Thanks," Rory replied sarcastically and dashed towards the stairs and slamming her fist on the sure-to-be-locked door.

"If you don't have a key, I don't want to see you," Jess announced, his voice quiet compared to the music that was blaring.

"Jess!" Rory shouted, hoping to be heard over it.

The music was abruptly shut off and she heard slamming footsteps making their way over to the door. It was jerked open and she prepared herself to be shouted at when, instead, she reached up and slapped him again.

"How could you do that?" she shrieked.

"Huh?" Jess asked, obviously shell shocked.

She almost reached up to smack him again, when he grabbed her hand and dragged her into the apartment, kicking and screaming and crying.

"You bastard!" she hissed.

"Rory, I-," Jess stammered, his eyes darting around as though looking for a way out.

"You left me!" she shouted, eyes wide, tears pouring onto her cheeks. "You left me."

"I didn't leave you," Jess shook his head, running his hands through his hair and backing away, farther into the gloom that was the apartment.

"Then what happened? Did your ghost go hitchhiking? Oh, no, I guess he couldn't have, seeing as how he's standing here!" her voice got more erratic and screech-filled with every word.

"I don't belong there!" Jess shouted at her.

"Then why did you want to go?" she howled, following him as he made a retreat. She saw the obvious hurt in his eyes and she felt some of her anger melt away.

"I-," he started, but couldn't finish. She saw his jaw clench, watched his entire body turn into a spring.

"Jess?" she pleaded, not wanting him to do this, to shut her out.

"I can't," he shook his head, looking up at the ceiling. Frustration poured out of him and his hands turned into fists. She saw the familiar wall-glance and dashed towards him, grabbing him and pulling him so that he was facing her.

"Why?" she begged now, blue eyes wide and open, giving him all her love.

"I can't be that… I can't… I can't," Jess stated, looking forlorn and tortured.

"I don't want you to be," Rory told him, pulling him to her and not allowing him to escape.

"How could you not? I saw that kid… Tristin… he had everything, anything that you could want… he could get it for you," Jess rambled slightly.

"He couldn't get me anything I want… I want you, I love you, I… Jess… I need you," she told him, offering her heart to him.

"I can't protect you," Jess said, as though realizing the flaw in their perfectly construed logic.

"I don't need you to," Rory assured him, grabbing his hand and kissing his knuckles.

"But if I can't protect you, who will?" he asked, looking for all the world like a little lost puppy.

"We will protect us, Jess," she assured him. "You and me. No one else, not Tristin, not my mother, not Luke, just us."

"What if we can't?" Jess deadpanned.

"Then we'll as for help, but it'll still be us, and we'll still make it… if you trust me," Rory continued with her plea.

It took a long time of him standing there, fingers wrapped in hers, eyes staring into space, before he finally let his hand and his eyes drop, letting go of her.

"Jess?" she gasped, tears clouding her vision.

"I'm… sorry," Jess told her, eyes downcast.

"No," she objected.

"I'm sorry," he said again, grabbing both her hands and kissing her soundly. The heart that had been breaking in her chest was carefully, hopefully, being stitched back up, waiting for whether this was a goodbye, or a genuine apology for ass-headedness.

"Stay?" she begged him, tugging his shirt over his head.

"Yeah," he agreed, and she smiled at him, tears pouring down her face. He kissed them away as his hands slowly let loose her prom dress and she stepped out of it, letting the material pour to the forgotten floor.

They moved to the bed without question and their hands and bodies and subconscious ran the rest while their consciousness was entirely focused on memorizing the moment, on basking in how close they'd been to losing it.

"I love you," she cried as she climaxed, her head thrown back, and her carefully dressed hair falling to shambles.

She heard the three words muttered constantly from his lips, repeating themselves over and over, begging her to understand and to accept him. Rory pulled his head up and kissed him again, drowning herself in the pleasure and pain that was them.

It didn't take very long for them both to finish and turn into pools of jelly on the bed. His hands ran lazily all over her body, while she went through the futile effort of attempting to separate his hair from its hair jell.

"Hey!" a shout came from the door, causing Rory to jump and Jess to glare. "If you two are finished in there, the drunk guy passed out and I'm tired."

"Who the hell is that?" Jess demanded, not used to people who weren't Lorelai or Luke pounding on the door.

"Paris," Rory told him.

"And the drunk guy?" Jess continued, pulling on his jeans commando and yanking on a t-shirt.

"Luke," Rory told him as she pulled on a pair of her jeans that she stored for occasions such as this. She then stole one of Jess's t-shirts and followed him downstairs.

"Why is Luke drunk?" Jess asked as they ambled down the stairs, hand in hand.

"I don't know…" she sighed, feeling ashamed for not taking the proper time to care for Luke… but Jess… guilt rode her for a few moments.

"I'll make him some coffee," Jess said uneasily and started a pot.

"Coffee would be amazing," Rory chirped in.

"Huh," Jess smirked at her.

"I agree," Paris snapped her way into the conversation, breaking the moment. "Can I sleep somewhere?"

"I'll call my mom," Rory told her.

"Okay," Paris yawned and placed her head on her elbow, resting it on the table.

"Coffee," Jess announced as he placed the near-boiling liquid on the table.

"Goodie," Paris yawned again, taking a sip before going back to her previous position of snoozing on the table.

Rory took a sip of her coffee and watched Jess attempt to prod Luke awake.

"I've never seen him drunk," Jess sighed. "He looks…"

"Drunk?" Rory offered, unable to come up with another word for the goofy smile that had come on Luke's features in the night.

"Yeah," Jess agreed with a slight smirk.

"You're disgusting, when can I sleep?" Paris interjected.

"Right," Rory nodded, getting her cell phone out. Despite it being almost twelve in the morning, her mother was probably still sitting by the phone, waiting for catastrophe to strike.

"Hello?" Lorelai sounded wide awake.

"Is it Rory?" was asked from the background. Apparently both parents were on Rory-patrol.

"Yes, it's her," Lorelai told Chris.

"Mom, can Paris spend the night?" Rory asked timidly.

"Paris? Doesn't she hate you right now?" Lorelai deadpanned.

"Apparently not?" Rory replied.

"Uh… I guess… aren't you staying with Jess tonight?" Lorelai asked, and Rory slid her eyes over to Jess, who was looking at her in much the same manner, having obviously heard the question.

"Yup," Rory sighed, her eyes never leaving his.

"So… you're giving me Paris," her mother sulked.

"Affirmative," Rory agreed.

"Mean," Lorelai pouted. "Have a good night."

"Thanks," Rory departed and then hung up the phone and looked at Paris. "You can go to my house whenever you want to, tell the limo to drive you… Jess and I are going to, uh, stay here."

"Right," Paris groaned, glaring at them and sliding herself off the table to sulk out to the car.

"She's interesting," Jess commented, watching Paris leave.

"She's Paris," Rory agreed, feeling tired herself. "What about Luke?"

"I guess I'll take him upstairs," Jess sighed, lifting one of Luke's arms over his shoulders and fireman-carrying him up the stairs.

Rory followed slowly, to make sure that no one was killed in the process. When they finally got him upstairs and into bed, Jess strolled downstairs and wrote up a sign stating that Luke's was going to be opening for lunch, not breakfast.

"Ready?" Jess asked her, grabbing his coat and his car keys.

"Yeah," she agreed, grabbing his spare hand and allowing him to pull her out of the diner.


End file.
